[ 3„/::  ========== j,j„ -.j_ .......i.p 

LIBRARY 

OF 

W.  S.  BAYLEY, 


No. 


OF  THE 
U N l V ER.S  ITY 
OF  ILLINOIS 

946.03 

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1887 

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FERDINAND  THE  CATHOLIC, 


HISTORY 


OF 

THE  REIGN  OF 

FERDINAND  and  ISABELLA. 


BT 

WILLIAM  H.  PRESCOTT. 


Quce  surgere  regna 

Conjugio  tali ! 

Virgil.  JEneid.  iv.  47, 

Crevere  vires,  famaque  et  impcri 
Porrecta  in  a jest  as  ab  Euro 
Solis  ad  Occidunm  cubile. 

Horat.  Carm.  iv.  15. 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES.— VOL.  I 


NEW  YORK: 

JOHN  B.  ALDEN,  PUBLISHER, 

1887. 


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TROWS 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY, 
NEW  YORK. 


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TO 

THE  HONORABLE 

WILLIAM  PRESCOTT,  LL.  D., 


A 

4 


THE  GUIDE  OF  MY  YOUTH, 

MY  BEST  FRIEND  IN  RIPER  YEARS, 

THESE  VOLUMES, 

WITH  THE  WARMEST  FEELINGS  OF  FILIAL  AFFECTION 
ARE  RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED, 


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A 

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DEMOTE  §TQ,RAC£ 


PREFACE 


TO  THE  FIRST  EDITION. 


English  writers  have  done  more  for  the  illustration  of 
Spanish  history,  than  for  that  of  any  other  except  their  own. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  recent  general  compendium,  executed 
for  the  ‘‘Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,”  a work  of  singular  acuteness 
and.information,  we  have  particular  narratives  of  the  several 
reigns,  in  an  unbroken  series,  from  the  emperor  Charles 
the  Fifth  (the  First  of  Spain)  to  Charles  the  Third,  at  the 
close  of  the  last  century,  by  authors  whose  names  are  a 
sufficient  guaranty  for  the  excellence  of  their  productions. 
It  is  singular,  that,  with  this  attention  to  the  modern  history 
of  the  Peninsula,  there  should  be  no  particular  account  of 
the  period,  which  may  be  considered  as  the  proper  basis  of 
it, — the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

In  this  reign,  the  several  States,  into  which  the  country 
had  been  broken  up  for  ages,  were  brought  under  a common 
rule;  the  kingdom  of  Naples  was  conquered;  America  dis- 
covered and  colonized;  the  ancient  empire  of  the  Spanish 
Arabs  subverted;  the  dread  tribunal  of  the  Modern  Inquisi- 
tion established;  the  Jews,  who  contributed  so  sensibly  to 
the  wealth  and  civilization  of  the  country,  were  banished; 
and,  in  fine,  such  changes  were  introduced  into  the  interior 
administration  of  the  monarchy,  as  have  left  a permanent 
impression  on  the  character  and  condition  of  the  nation. 

The  actors  in  these  events,  were  every  way  suited  to  their 
importance.  Besides  the  reigning  sovereigns,  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  the  latter  certainly  one  of  the  most  interesting 
personages  in  history,  we  have,  in  political  affairs,  that  con- 
summate statesman,  Cardinal  Ximenes,  in  military,  the 
“Great  Captain,”  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  and  in  maritime,  the 
most  successful  navigator  of  any  age,  Christopher  Columbus; 
whose  entire  biographies  fall  within  the  limits  of  this  period- 


6 


PREFACE. 


Even  such  portions  of  it  as  have  been  incidentally  touched 
by  English  writers,  as  the  Italian  wars,  for  example,  have 
been  drawn  so  exclusively  from  French  and  Italian  sources, 
that  they  may  be  said  to  be  untrodden  ground  for  the  his- 
torian of  Spain.* 

It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  an  account  of  this 
reign  could  not  have  been  undertaken  at  any  preceding 
period,  with  anything  like  the  advantages  at  present  afforded; 
owing  to  the  light  which  recent  researches  of  Spanish  scholars, 
in  the  greater  freedom  of  inquiry  now  enjoyed,  have  shed 
on  some  of  its  most  interesting  and  least  familiar  features. 
The  most  important  of  the  works  to  which  I allude  are,  the 
History  of  the  Inquisition,  from  official  documents,  by  its 
secretary,  Llorente;  the  analysis  of  the  political  institutions 
of  the  kingdom,  by  such  writers  as  Marina,  Sempere,  and 
Capmany;  the  literal  version,  now  made  for  the  first  time,  of 
the  Spanish- Arab  chronicles,  by  Conde;  the  collection  of 
original  and  unpublished  documents,  illustrating  the  history 
of  Columbus  and  the  early  Castilian  navigators,  by  Navarrete; 
and,  lastly,  the  copious  illustrations  of  Isabella’s  reign,  by 
Clemencin,  the  late  lamented  secretary  of  the  Royal  Academy 
of  History,  forming  the  sixth  volume  of  its  valuable  Memoirs. 

It  was  the  knowledge  of  these  facilities  for  doing  justice 
to  this  subject,  as  well  as  its  intrinsic  merits,  which  led  me, 
ten  years  since,  to  select  it;  and  surely  no  subject  could  be 
found  more  suitable  for  the  pen  of  an  American,  than  a history 
of  that  reign,  under  the  auspices  of  which  the  existence  of 
his  own  favored  quarter  of  the  globe  was  first  revealed.  A? 
I was  conscious  that  the  value  of  the  history  must  depend 
mainly  on  that  of  its  materials,  I have  spared  neither  pains 
nor  expense,  from  the  first,  in  collecting  the  most  authentic. 
In  accomplishing  this,  I must  acknowledge  the  services  of 
my  friends,  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Everett,  then  minister  plenipo- 
tentiary from  the  United  States  to  the  court  of  Madrid,  Mr. 
Arthur  Middleton,  secretary  of  the  American  legation,  and, 
above  all,  Mr.  O.  Rich,  now  American  consul  for  the  Balearic 

':f  The  only  histories  of  this  reign  by  continental  writers,  with  which  I 
am  acquainted,  are  the  “ Histoire  des  Rois  Catholiques  Ferdinand  et  Isa- 
belle, par  l’Abbe  Mignot,  Paris,  1766,”  and  the  “Geschichte  der  Regie- 
rung  Ferdinand  des  Katholischen,  von  Rupert  Becker,  Prag  und  Leipzig, 
1790.”  Their  authors  have  employed  the  most  accessible  materials  only 
in  the  compilation  ; and,  indeed,  they  lay  claim  to  no  great  research,  which 
would  seem  to  be  precluded  by  the  extent  of  their  wrorks,  in  neither  instance 
exceeding  two  volumes  duodecimo.  They  have  the  merit  of  exhibiting,  in 
a simple,  perspicuous  form,  those  events,  which,  lying  on  the  surface,  may 
be  found  more  or  less  expanded  in  most  general  histories. 


PREFACE. 


7 


Islands,  a gentleman,  whose  extensive  bibliographical  know- 
ledge, and  unwearied  researches,  during  a long  residence  in 
the  Peninsula,  have  been  liberally  employed  for  the  benefit 
both  of  his  own  country  and  of  England.  With  such  assist- 
ance, I flatter  myself  that  I have  been  enabled  to  secure 
whatever  can  materially  conduce  to  the  illustration  of  the 
period  in  question,  whether  in  the  form  of  chronicle,  memoir, 
private  correspondence,  legal  codes,  or  official  documents. 
Among  these  are  various  contemporary  manuscripts,  covering 
the  whole  ground  of  the  narrative,  none  of  which  have  been 
printed,  and  some  of  them  but  little  known  to  Spanish 
scholars.  In  obtaining  copies  of  these  from  the  public 
libraries,  I must  add,  that  I have  found  facilities  under  the 
present  liberal  government,  which  were  denied  me  under  the 
preceding.  In  addition  to  these  sources  of  information,  I 
have  availed  myself,  in  the  part  of  the  work  occupied  with 
literary  criticism  and  history,  of  the  library  of  my  friend, 
Mr.  George  Ticknor,  who  during  a visit  to  Spain,  some  years 
since,  collected  whatever  was  rare  and  valuable  in  the 
literature  of  the  Peninsula.  I must  further  acknowledge  my 
obligations  to  the  library  of  Harvard  University,  in  Cam- 
bridge, from  whose  rich  repository  of  books  relating  to  our 
own  country  I have  derived  material  aid.  And,  lastly,  I 
must  not  omit  to  notice  the  favors  of  another  kind  for  which 
I am  indebted  to  my  friend,  Mr.  William  H.  Gardiner,  whose 
judicious  counsels  have  been  of  essential  benefit  to  me  in  the 
revision  of  my  labors. 

In  the  plan  of  the  work,  I have  not  limited  myself  to  a 
strict  chronological  narrative  of  passing  events,  but  have 
occasionally  paused,  at  the  expense,  perhaps,  of  some  in- 
terest in  the  story,  to  seek  such  collateral  information,  as 
might  bring  these  events  into  a clearer  view.  I have  devoted 
a liberal  portion  of  the  work  to  the  literary  progress  of  the 
nation,  conceiving  this  quite  as  essential  a part  of  its  history 
as  civil  and  military  details.  I have  occasionally  introduced, 
at  the  close  of  the  chapters,  a critical  notice  of  the  authorities 
used,  that  the  reader  may  form  some  estimate  of  their  com 
parative  value  and  credibility.  Finally,  I have  endeavored 
to  present  him  with  such  an  account  of  the  state  of  affairs, 
both  before  the  accession,  and  at  the  demise  of  the  Catholic 
sovereigns,  as  might  afford  him  the  best  points  of  view  for 
surveying  the  entire  results  of  their  reign. 

How  far  I have  succeeded  in  the  execution  of  this  plan, 
must  be  left  to  the  reader’s  candid  judgment.  Many  errors 
he  may  be  able  to  detect.  Sure  1 am,  there  can  be  no  one 


8 


PREFACE 


more  sensible  of  my  deficiencies,  than  myself;  although  it 
was  not  till  after  practical  experience,  that  I could  fully 
estimate  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  anything  like  a faithful 
portraiture  of  a distant  age,  amidst  the  shifting  hues  and 
perplexing  cross  lights  of  historic  testimony.  From  one  class 
of  errors  my  subject  necessarily  exempts  me;  those  founded 
on  national  or  party  feeling.  1 may  have  been  more  open 
to  another  fault;  that  of  too  strong  a bias  in  favor  of  my 
principal  actors;  for  characters,  noble  and  interesting  in 
themselves,  naturally  beget  a sort  of  partiality  akin  to  friend- 
ship, in  the  historian’s  mind,  accustomed  to  the  daily  con- 
templation of  them.  Whatever  defects  may  be  charged  on 
the  work,  I can  at  least  assure  myself,  that  it  is  an  honest 
record  of  a reign  important  in  itself,  new  to  the  reader  in  an 
English  dress,  and  resting  on  a solid  basis  of  authentic 
materials,  such  as  probably  could  not  be  met  with  out  of 
Spain,  nor  in  it  without  much  difficulty. 

I hope  I shall  be  acquitted  of  egotism,  although  I add  a 
few  words  respecting  the  peculiar  embarrassments  I have 
encountered,  in  composing  these  volumes.  Soon  after  my 
arrangements  were  made,  early  in  1826,  for  obtaining  the 
necessary  materials  from  Madrid,  I was  deprived  of  the  use 
of  my  eyes  for  all  purposes  of  reading  and  writing,  and  had 
no  prospect  of  again  recovering  it.  This  was  a serious  ob- 
stacle to  the  prosecution  of  a work,  requiring  the  perusal  of  a 
large  mass  of  authorities,  in  various  languages,  the  contents 
of  which  were  to  be  carefully  collated,  and  transferred  to  my 
own  pages,  verified  by  minute  reference.*  Thus  shut  out 
from  one  sense,  I was  driven  to  rely  exclusively  on  another, 
and  to  make  the  ear  do  the  work  of  the  eye.  With  the 
assistance  of  a reader,  uninitiated,  it  may  be  added,  in  any 
modern  language  but  his  own,  I worked  my  way  through 
several  venerable  Castilian  quartos,  until  I was  satisfied  of 
the  practicability  of  the  undertaking.  I next  procured  the 
services  of  one  more  competent  to  aid  me  in  pursuing  my 
historical  inquiries.  The  process  was  slow  and  irksome 
enough,  doubtless,  to  both  parties,  at  least  till  my  ear  was  ac- 
commodated to  foreign  sounds,  and  an  antiquated,  oftentimes 
barbarous  phraseology,  when  my  progress  became  more 

* “To  compile  a history  from  various  authors,  when  they  can  only  be 
consulted  by  other  eyes,  is  not  easy,  nor  possible,  but  with  more  skilful 
and  attentive  help  than  can  be  commonly  obtained.”  (Johnson’s  Life  of 
Milton .)  This  remark  of  the  great  critic,  which  first  engaged  my  attention 
in  the  midst  §f  my  embarrassments,  although  discouraging  at  first,  in  the 
end  stimulated  the  desire  to  overcome  them. 


PREFACE. 


9 


sensible,  and  I was  cheered  with  the  prospect  of  success. 
It  certainly  would  have  been  a far  more  serious  misfortune,  to 
be  led  thus  blindfold  through  the  pleasant  paths  of  literature; 
but  my  track  stretched,  for  the  most  part,  across  dreary 
wastes,  where  no  beauty  lurked,  to  arrest  the  traveller’s  eye 
and  charm  his  senses.  After  persevering  in  this  course  for 
some  years,  my  eyes,  by  the  blessing  of  Providence,  recovered 
sufficient  strength  to  allow  me  to  use  them,  with  tolerable 
freedom,  in  the  prosecution  of  my  labors,  and  in  the  revision 
of  all  previously  written.  I hope  I shall  not  be  misunder- 
stood, as  stating  these  circumstances  to  deprecate  the  severity 
of  criticism,  since  I am  inclined  to  think  the  greater  cir- 
cumspection I have  been  compelled  to  use  has  left  me,  on 
the  whole,  less  exposed  to  inaccuracies,  than  I should  have 
been  in  the  ordinary  mode  of  composition.  But,  as  I reflect 
on  the  many  sober  hours  I have  passed  in  wading  through 
black  letter  tomes,  and  through  manuscripts  whose  doubtful 
orthography  and  defiance  of  all  punctuation  were  so  many 
stumbling-blocks  to  my  amanuensis,  it  calls  up  a scene  of 
whimsical  distresses,  not  usually  encountered,  on  which  the 
good-natured  reader  may,  perhaps,  allow  I have  some  right, 
now  that  I have  got  the  better  of  them,  to  dwell  with  satis- 
faction. 

I will  only  remark,  in  conclusion  of  this  too  prolix  discus- 
sion about  myself,  that  while  making  my  tortoise-like  pro- 
gress, I saw  what  I had  fondly  looked  upon  as  my  own 
ground  (having  indeed  lain  unmolested  by  any  other  invader 
for  so  many  ages),  suddenly  entered,  and  in  part  occupied, 
by  one  of  my  countrymen.  I allude  to  Mr.  Irving’s  “History 
of  Columbus,”  and  “Chronicle  of  Granada;”  the  subjects  of 
which,  although  covering  but  a small  part  of  my  whole  plan, 
form  certainly  two  of  its  most  brilliant  portions.  Now,  alas! 
if  not  devoid  of  interest,  they  are,  at  least,  stripped  of  the 
charm  of  novelty.  For  what  eye  has  not  been  attracted  to 
the  spot,  on  which  the  light  of  that  writer’s  genius  has  fallen? 

I cannot  quit  the  subject  which  has  so  long  occupied  me, 
without  one  glance  at  the  present  unhappy  condition  of  Spain; 
who,  shorn  of  her  ancient  splendor,  humbled  by  the  loss  of 
empire  abroad,  and  credit  at  home,  is  abandoned  to  all  the 
evils  of  anarchy.  Yet,  deplorable  as  this  condition  is,  it  is  not 
so  bad  as  the  lethargy  in  which  she  has  been  sunk  for  ages. 
Better  be  hurried  forward  for  a season  on  the  wings  of  the 
tempest,  than  stagnate  in  a deathlike  calm,  fatal  alike  to 
intellectual  and  moral  progress.  The  crisis  of  a revolution, 
when  old  things  are  passing  away,  and  new  ones  are  not  yet 


IO 


PREFACE. 


esta  lished,  is,  indeed,  fearful.  Even  the  immediate  conse- 
quences of  its  achievement  are  scarcely  less  so  to  a people 
who  have  yet  to  learn  by  experiment  the  precise  form  of 
institutions  best  suited  to  their  wants,  and  to  accommodate 
their  character  to  these  institutions.  Such  results  must 
come  with  time,  however,  if  the  nation  be  but  true  to  itself. 
And  that  they  will  come,  sooner  or  later,  to  the  Spaniards, 
surely  no  one  can  distrust  who  is  at  all  conversant  with  their 
earlier  history,  and  has  witnessed  the  examples  it  affords  of 
heroic  virtue,  devoted  patriotism,  and  generous  love  of  free- 
dom 

“ Che  l’antico  valore 
non  e ancor  moi-to.” 

Clouds  and  darkness  have,  indeed,  settled  thick  around 
the  throne  of  the  youthful  Isabella;  but  not  a deeper  dark- 
ness than  that  which  covered  the  land  in  the  first  years  of 
her  illustrious  namesake;  and  we  may  humbly  trust,  that  the 
same  Providence,  which  guided  her  reign  to  so  prosperous 
a termination,  may  carry  the  nation  safe  through  its  present 
perils,  and  secure  to  it  the  greatest  of  earthly  blessings,  civil 
and  religious  liberty, 


November , 1837. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FACE 

PAGE 

Ferdinand Front. 

The  Cid 28 

Louis  XI 94 

Pass  near  Perpignan 134 

Prison  of  the  Inquisition,  Barcelona 192 

The  Great  Mosque  of  Cordova 212 

Gonsalvo  de  Cordova 330 

Christopher  Columbus ;.V 342 


PREFACE 


TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION, 


Since  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  it 
has  undergone  a careful  revision;  and  this,  aided  by  the 
communications  of  several  intelligent  friends,  who  have  taken 
an  interest  in  its  success,  has  enabled  the  Author  to  correct 
several  verbal  inaccuracies,  and  a few  typographical  errors, 
which  had  been  previously  overlooked.  While  the  second 
edition  was  passing  through  the  press,  he  received,  also, 
copies  of  two  valuable  Spanish  works,  having  relation  to  the 
reign  of  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  but  which,  as  they  appeared 
during  the  recent  troubles  of  the  Peninsula,  had  not  before 
come  to  his  knowledge.  For  these  he  is  indebted  to  the 
politeness  of  the  Spanish  Minister  at  Washington,  Don  Angel 
Calderon  de  la  Barca;  a gentleman  whose  frank  and  liberal 
manners,  personal  accomplishments,  and  independent  con- 
duct in  public  life,  have  secured  for  him  deservedly  high 
consideration  in  this  country,  as  well  as  his  own.  The  works 
alluded  to,  of  which  more  particular  notice  is  given  in  the 
Notes,  have  not  required,  indeed,  any  alteration  in  the  ori- 
ginal text  of  the  History;  but  they  have  supplied  matter  fov 
further  reference  and  illustration,  of  which  the  Author  has 
gladly  availed  himself.  With  these  emendations,  it  is  hoped 
that  the  present  edition  may  be  found  more  deserving  of  the 
public  favor,  which  has  been  so  liberally  accorded  to  the 
preceding. 


September , 183  8. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  L 


INTRODUCTION. 

SECTION  I. 

VIEW  OF  THE  CASTILIAN  MONARCHY  BEFORE  THE  FIFTEENTH 
CENTURY. 

Page 

State  of  Spain  at  the  Middle  of  the  Fifteenth  Century.  Early  History 
and  Constitution  of  Castile.  The  Visigoths.  Invasion  of  the 
Arabs.  Its  influence  on  the  Condition  of  the  Spaniards.  Causes 
of  their  slow  Reconquest  of  the  Country.  Their  ultimate  Success 
certain.  Their  Religious  Enthusiasm.  Influence  of  their  Min- 
strelsy. Their  Charity  to  the  Infidel.  Their  Chivalry.  Early 
Importance  of  the  Castilian  Towns.  Their  Privileges.  Castilian 
Cortes.  Its  great  Powers.  Its  Boldness.  Hermandades  of  Cas- 
tile. Wealth  of  the  Cities.  Period  of  the  highest  Power  of  the 
Commons.  The  Nobility.  Their  Privileges.  Their  great  Wealth. 
Their  turbulent  Spirit.  The  Cavallei'os  or  Knights.  The  Clergy. 
Influence  of  the  Papal  Court.  Corruption  of  the  Clergy.  Their 
rich  Possessions.  Limited  Extent  of  the  Royal  Prerogative. 
Poverty  of  the  Crown.  Its  Causes.  Anecdote  of  Henry  III.,  of 
Castile.  Constitution  at  the  Beginning  of  the  Fifteenth  Century. 
Constitutional  Writers  on  Castile.  Notice  of  Marina  and  Sem- 
pere 23-46 


SECTION  II. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  ARAGON  TO  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE 
FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Rise  of  Aragon.  Foreign  Conquests.  Code  of  Soprarbe.  The  Ricos 
Hombres.  Their  Immunities.  Their  Turbulence.  Privileges  of 
Union.  Their  Abrogation.  The  Legislature  of  Aragon.  Its 
Forms  of  Proceeding.  Its  Powers.  The  General  Privilege.  Ju- 
dicial Functions  of  Cortes.  Preponderance  of  the  Commons. 

The  Justice  of  Aragon.  His  great  Authority.  Security  against 
its  Abuse.  Independent  Execution  of  it.  Valencia  and  Catalonia. 

Rise  and  Opulence  of  Barcelona.  Her  free  Institutions.  Haughty 
Spirit  of  the  Catalans.  Intellectual  Culture.  Poetical  Academy 
of  Tortosa.  Brief  Glory  of  the  Limousin.  Constitutional  Writers 
on  Aragon.  Notices  of  Blancas,  Martel,  and  Capmany.  . 47-66 


14 


CONTENTS. 


PART  FIRST. 

THE  PERIOD,  WHEN  THE  DIFFERENT  KINGDOMS  OF  SPAIN 
WERE  FIRST  UNITED  UNDER  ONE  MONARCHY,  AND  A 
THOROUGH  REFORM  WAS  INTRODUCED  INTO  THEIR  IN- 
TERNAL ADMINISTRATION;  OR  THE  PERIOD  EXHIBITING 
MOST  FULLY  THE  DOMESTIC  POLICY  OF  FERDINAND  AND 
ISABELLA. 


CHAPTER  I. 


STATE  OF  CASTILE  AT  THE  BIRTH  OF  ISABELLA. — REIGN  OF  JOHN  II., 
OF  CASTILE. 

Page 

Revolution  of  Trastamara.  Accession  of  John  II.  Rise  of  Alvaro 
de  Luna.  Jealousy  of  the  Nobles.  Oppression  of  the  Commons. 

Its  Consequences.  Early  Literature  of  Castile.  Its  Encourage- 
ment under  John  II.  Marquis  of  Villena.  Marquis  of  Santillana. 

John  de  Mena.  His  Influence.  Baena’s  Cancionero.  Castilian 
Literature  under  John  II.  Decline  of  Alvaro  de  Luna.  His  Fall. 

His  Death.  Lamented  by  John.  Death  of  John  II.  Birth  of 
Isabella. 71-84 


CHAPTER  II. 

CONDITION  OF  ARAGON  DURING  THE  MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. — REIGN 
OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 

John  of  Aragon.  Title  of  his  Son  Carlos  to  Navarre.  He  takes  Arms 
against  his  Father.  Is  defeated.  Birth  of  Ferdinand.  Carlos 
retires  to  Naples.  He  passes  into  Sicily.  John  II.  succeeds  to 
the  Crown  of  Aragon.  Carlos  reconciled  with  his  Father.  Is 
imprisoned.  Insurrection  of  the  Catalans.  Carlos  released.  His 
Death.  His  Character.  Tragical  Story  of  Blanche.  Ferdinand 
sworn  Heir  to  the  Crown.  Besieged  by  the  Catalans  in  Gerona. 
Treaty  between  France  and  Aragon.  General  Revolt  in  Cata- 
lonia. Successes  of  John.  Crown  of  Catalonia  offered  to  Rene 
of  Anjou.  Distress  and  Embarrassments  of  John.  Popularity 
of  the  Duke  of  Lorraine.  Death  of  the  Queen  of  Aragon.  Im- 
provement in  John’s  Affairs.  Siege  of  Barcelona.  It  surren- 
ders  85-101 


CHAPTER  III. 

REIGN  OF  HENRY  IV.,  OF  CASTILE. — CIVIL  WAR. — MARRIAGE  OF  FERDI- 
NAND AND  ISABELLA. 

Popularity  of  Henry  IV.  He  disappoints  Expectations.  His  disso- 
lute Habits.  Oppression  of  the  People.  Debasement  of  the  Coin. 
Character  of  Pacheco,  Marquis  of  Villena.  Character  of  the  Arch- 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

bishop  of  Toledo.  Interview  between  Henry  IV.  and  Louis  XI. 
Disgrace  of  Villena  and  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo.  League  of 
the  Nobles.  Deposition  of  Henry  at  Avila.  Division  of  Parties. 
Intrigues  of  the  Marquis  of  Villena.  Henry  disbands  his  Forces. 
Proposition  for  the  Marriage  of  Isabella.  Her  early  Education. 
Projected  Union  with  the  Grand  Master  of  Calatrava.  His  sudden 
Death.  Battle  of  Olmedo.  Civil  Anarchy.  Death  and  Charac- 
ter of  Alfonso.  His  Reign  a Usurpation.  The  Crown  offered  to 
Isabella.  She  declines  it.  Treaty  between  Henry  and  the  Con- 
federates. Isabella  acknowledged  Heir  to  the  Crown  at  Toros  de 
Guisando.  Suitors  to  Isabella.  Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  Support 
of  Joanna  Beltraneja.  Proposal  of  the  King  of  Portugal  rejected 
by  Isabella.  She  accepts  Ferdinand.  Articles  of  Marriage.  Criti- 
cal Situation  of  Isabella.  Ferdinand  enters  Castile.  Private  In- 
terview between  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Their  Marrriage.  No- 
tice of  the  Quincuagenas  of  Oviedo 102-128 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FACTIONS  IN  CASTILE. — WAR  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  ARAGON. — DEATH 
OF  HENRY  IV.,  OF  CASTILE. 

Factions  in  Castile.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Civil  Anarchy.  Revolt 
of  Roussillon  from  Louis  XI.  Gallant  Defence  of  Perpignan. 
Ferdinand  raises  the  Siege.  Treaty  between  France  an  Aragon. 
Isabella’s  Party  gains  Strength.  Interview  between  Henry  IV. 
and  Isabella  at  Segovia.  Second  French  Invasion  of  Roussillon. 
Ferdinand’s  summary  Execution  of  Justice.  Siege  and  Reduc- 
tion of  Perpignan.  Perfidy  of  Louis  XI.  Illness  of  Henry  IV., 
of  Castile.  His  Death.  Influence  of  his  Reign.  Notice  of 
Alonso  de  Palencia.  Notice  of  Enriquez  de  Castillo.  . . 129-142 


CHAPTER  V. 

ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. — WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. — 
BATTLE  OF  TORO. 

Title  of  Isabella.  She  is  proclaimed  Queen.  Settlement  of  the  Crown. 
Partisans  of  Joanna.  Alfonso  of  Portugal  supports  her  Cause. 

He  invades  Castile.  He  espouses  Joanna.  Castilian  Army.  Fer- 
dinand marches  against  Alfonso.  He  challenges  him  to  personal 
Combat.  Disorderly  Retreat  of  the  Castilians.  Appropriation  of 
the  Church  Plate.  Reorganization  of  the  Army.  King  of  Portu- 
gal arrives  before  Zamora.  Absurd  Position.  He  suddenly  de- 
camps. Overtaken  by  Ferdinand.  Battle  of  Toro.  The  Portu- 
guese routed.  Isabella’s  Thanksgiving  for  the  Victory.  Submis- 
sion of  the  whole  Kingdom.  The  King  of  Portugal  visits  France. 
Returns  to  Portugal.  Peace  with  France.  Active  Measures  of 
Isabella.  Treaty  of  Peace  with  Portugal.  Joanna  takes  the  Veil. 
Death  of  the  King  of  Portugal.  Death  of  the  King  of  Ara- 
gon  . . . . . . 143-162 


i6 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

INTERNAL  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 

Page 

Scheme  of  Reform  for  the  Government  of  Castile.  Administration  of 
Justice.  Establishment  of  the  Hermandad.  Code  of  the  Pler- 
mandad.  Ineffectual  Opposition  of  the  Nobility.  Tumult  at 
Segovia.  Isabella’s  Presence  of  Mind.  Isabella  visits  Seville. 

Her  splendid  Reception  there.  Severe  Execution  of  Justice. 
Marquis  of  Cadiz  and  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia.  Royal  Progress 
through  Andalusia.  Impartial  Execution  of  the  Laws.  Reorgani- 
zation of  the  Tribunals.  King  and  Queen  preside  in  Courts  of 
Justice.  Reestablishment  of  Order.  Reform  of  the  Jurispru- 
dence. Code  of  Ordena^as  Reales.  Schemes  for  reducing  the 
Nobility.  Revocation  of  the  royal  Grants.  Legislative  Enact- 
ments. The  Queen’s  spirited  Conduct  to  the  Nobility.  Military 
Orders  of  Castile.  Order  of  St.  Jago.  Order  of  Calatrava.  Order 
of  Alcantara.  Grand-masterships  annexed  to  the  Crown.  Their 
Reformation.  Usurpations  of  the  Church.  Resisted  by  Cortes. 
Difference  with  the  Pope.  Restoration  of  Trade.  Salutary  En- 
actments of  Cortes.  Prosperity  of  the  Kingdom.  Notice  of  Cle- 
mencin.  ..........  163-189 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  MODERN  INQUISITION. 

Origin  of  the  Ancient  Inquisition.  Its  Introduction  into  Aragon. 
Restrospective  View  of  the  Jews  in  Spain.  Under  the  Arabs. 
Under  the  Castilians.  Persecution  of  the  Jews.  Their  State  at 
the  Accession  of  Isabella.  Charges  against  them.  Bigotry  of 
the  Age.  Its  Influence  on  Isabella.  Character  of  her  Confessor 
Torquemada.  Papal  Bull  authorizing  the  Inquisition.  Isabella 
resorts  to  milder  Measures.  Enforces  the  Papal  Bull.  Inquisi- 
tion at  Seville.  Proofs  of  Judaism.  The  sanguinary  Proceedings 
of  the  Inquisitors.  Conduct  of  the  Papal  Court.  Final  Organi- 
zation of  the  Inquisition.  Forms  of  Trial.  Torture.  Injustice 
of  its  Proceedings.  Autos  da  Fe.  Convictions  under  Torque- 
mada. Perfidious  Policy  of  Rome.  Notice  of  Llorente’s  History 
of  the  Inquisition.  ........  190-207 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

REVIEW  OF  THE  POLITICAL  AND  INTELLECTUAL  CONDITION  OF  THE 
SPANISH  ARABS  PREVIOUS  TO  THE  WAR  OF  GRANADA. 

Early  Successes  of  Mahometanism.  Conquest  of  Spain.  Western 
Caliphate.  Form  of  Government.  Character  of  the  Sovereigns. 
Military  Establishment.  Sumptuous  public  Works.  Great  Mosque 
of  Cordova.  Revenues.  Mineral  Wealth  of  Spain.  Husbandry 
and  Manufactures.  Population.  Character  of  Alhakem  II.  In- 
tellectual Development.  Dismemberment  of  the  Cordovan  Empire. 


CONTENTS. 


17 


Page 

Kingdom  of  Granada.  Agriculture  and  Commerce.  Resources 
of  the  Crown.  Luxurious  Character  of  the  People.  Moorish 
Gallantry.  Chivalry.  Unsettled  State  of  Granada.  Causes  of 
her  successful  Resistance.  Literature  of  the  Spanish  Arabs.  Cir- 
cumstances favorable  to  it.  Provisions  for  Learning.  The  actual 
Results.  Averroes.  Their  Historical  Merits.  Useful  Discove- 
ries. The  impulse  given  by  them  to  Europe.  Their  elegant 
Literature.  Poetical  Character.  Influence  on  the  Castilian.  Cir- 
cumstances prejudcial  to  their  Reputation.  Notices  of  Casiri, 
Conde,  and  Cardonne.  .......  208-230 


CHAPTER  IX. 

WAR  OF  GRANADA. — SURPRISE  OF  ZAHARA. — CAPTURE  OF  ALHAMA. 

Zahara  surprised  by  the  Moors.  Description  of  Alhama.  The  Mar- 
quis of  Cadiz.  His  Expedition  against  Alhama.  Surprise  of  the 
Fortress.  Valor  of  the  Citizens.  Sally  upon  the  Moors.  Des- 
perate Combat.  Fall  of  Alhama.  Consternation  of  the  Moors. 

The  Moors  besiege  Alhama.  Distress  of  the  Garrison.  The  Duke 
of  Medina  Sidonia.  Marches  to  relieve  Alhama.  Raises  the 
Siege.  Meeting  of  the  two  Armies.  The  Sovereigns  at  Cordova. 
Alhama  invested  again  by  the  Moors.  Isabella’s  Firmness.  Fer- 
dinand raises  the  Siege.  Vigorous  Measures  of  the  Queen.  231-243 


CHAPTER  X. 

WAR  OF  GRANADA. — UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT  ON  LOJA. — DEFEAT  IN  THE 

AXARQUIA. 

Siege  of  Loja.  Castilian  Forces.  Encampment  before  Loja.  Skir- 
mish with  the  Enemy.  Retreat  of  the  Spaniards.  Revolution  in 
Granada.  Death  of  the  Archbishop  of  Toledo.  Affairs  of  Italy. 

Of  Navarre.  Resources  of  the  Crown.  Justice  of  the  Sovereigns. 
Expedition  to  the  Axarquia.  The  military  Array.  Progress  of 
the  Army.  Moorish  Preparations.  Skirmish  among  the  Moun- 
tains. Retreat  of  the  Spaniards.  Their  disastrous  Situation. 
They  resolve  to  force  a Passage.  Difficulties  of  the  Ascent. 
Dreadful  Slaughter.  Marquis  of  Cadiz  escapes.  Losses  of  the 
Christians.  ..........  244-260 


CHAPTER  XI. 

WAR  OF  GRANADA. — GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  POLICY  PURSUED  IN  THE 
CONDUCT  OF  THIS  WAR. 

Abdallah  marches  against  the  Christians.  Ill  Omens.  Marches  on 
Lucena.  Battle  of  Lucena.  Capture  of  Abdallah.  Losses  of 


i8 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

the  Moors.  Moorish  Embassy  to  Cordova.  Debates  in  the 
Spanish  Council.  Treaty  with  Abdallah.  Interview  between 
the  two  Kings.  General  Policy  of  the  War.  Incessant  Hostili- 
ties. Devastating  Forays.  Strength  of  the  Moorish  Fortresses. 
Description  of  the  Pieces.  Of  the  Kinds  of  Ammunition.  Roads 
for  the  Artillery.  Defences  of  the  Moors.  Terms  to  the  Van- 
quished. Supplies  for  the  Army.  Isabella’s  Care  of  the  Troops. 

Her  Perseverance  in  the  War.  Policy  toward  the  Nobles.  Com- 
position of  the  Army.  Swiss  Mercenaries.  The  English  Lord 
Scales.  The  Queen’s  Courtesy.  Magnificence  of  the  Nobles. 
Their  Gallantry.  Isabella  visits  the  Camp.  Royal  Costume. 
Devout  Demeanor  of  the  Sovereigns.  Ceremonies  on  the  Occu- 
pation of  a City.  Release  of  Christian  Captives.  Policy  in 
fomenting  the  Moorish  Factions.  Christian  Conquests.  Notice 
of  Fernando  del  Pulgar.  Notice  of  Antonio  de  Lebrija.  . 261-282 


CHAPTER  XII. 


INTERNAL  AFFAIRS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. — INQUISITION  IN  ARAGON. 

Isabella  enforces  the  Laws.  Chastisement  of  certain  Ecclesiastics. 
Marriage  of  Catharine  of  Navarre.  Liberation  of  Catalan  Serfs. 
Inquisition  in  Aragon.  Remonstrances  of  Cortes.  Conspiracy 
formed.  Assassination  of  Arbues.  Cruel  Persecutions.  Inqui- 
sition throughout  Ferdinand’s  Dominions.  ....  283-287 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. — SURRENDER  OF  VELEZ  MALAGA. — SIEGE  AND  CON- 
QUEST OF  MALAGA. 

Position  of  Velez  Malaga.  Army  before  Velez.  Defeat  of  El  Zagal. 
Narrow  Escape  of  Ferdinand.  Surrender  of  Velez.  Description 
of  Malaga.  Sharp  Rencontre.  Malaga  invested  by  Sea  and 
Land.  Brilliant  Spectacle.  Extensive  Preparations.  The  Queen 
visits  the  Camp.  Summons  of  the  Town.  Danger  of  the  Mar- 
quis of  Cadiz.  Civil  Feuds  of  the  Moors.  Attempt  to  assassi- 
nate the  Sovereigns.  Distress  and  Resolution  of  the  Beseiged. 
Enthusiasm  of  the  Christians.  Discipline  of  the  Army.  General 
Sally.  Generosity  of  a Moorish  Knight.  Outworks  carried. 
Grievous  Famine.  Proposals  for  Surrender.  Plaughty  Demeanor 
of  Ferdinand  Malaga  surrenders  at  Discretion.  Purification  of 
the  City.  Entrance  of  the  Sovereigns.  Release  of  Christian  Cap- 
tives. Lament  of  the  Malagans.  Sentence  passed  on  them. 
Wary  Device  of  Ferdinand.  Cruel  Policy  of  the  Victors.  Mea- 
sures for  repeopling  Malaga.  , 288-304 


CONTENTS. 


19 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Page 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. — CONQUEST  OF  BAZA. — SUBMISSION  OF  EL  ZAGAL. 

The  Sovereigns  visit  Aragon.  Inroads  into  Granada.  Border  War. 
Embassy  from  Maximilian.  Preparations  for  the  Siege  of  Baza. 

The  King  takes  Command  of  the  Army.  Position  and  Strength 
of  Baza.  Assault  on  the  Garden.  Despondency  of  the  Spanish 
Chiefs.  Dispelled  by  Isabella.  Gardens  cleared  of  their  Timber. 

City  closely  invested.  Mission  from  the  Sultan  of  Egypt.  Houses 
erected  for  the  Army.  Its  strict  Discipline.  Heavy  Tempest. 
Isabella’s  Energy.  Her  patriotic  Sacrifices.  Resolution  of  the 
Besieged.  Isabella  visits  the  Camp.  Suspension  of  Arms.  Baza 
surrenders.  Conditions.  Occupation  of  the  City.  Treaty  of 
Surrender  with  El  Zagal.  Painful  March  of  the  Spanish  Army. 
Interview  between  Ferdinand  and  El  Zagal.  Occupation  of  El 
Zagal’s  Domain.  Equivalent  assigned  to  him.  Difficulties  of 
this  Campaign.  Isabella’s  Popularity  and  Influence.  Notice  of 
Peter  Martyr 305-323 


CHAPTER  XV. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. — SIEGE  AND  SURRENDER  OF  THE  CITY  OF  GRANADA. 

The  Infanta  Isabella.  Public  Festivities.  Granada  summoned  in  vain. 
Knighthood  of  Don  Juan.  Ferdinand’s  Policy.  Isabella  deposes 
the  Judges  of  Chancery.  Ferdinand  musters  his  Forces.  En- 
camps in  the  Vega.  Position  of  Granada.  Moslem  and  Christian 
Chivalry.  The  Queen  surveys  the  City.  Skirmish  with  the 
Enemy.  Conflagration  of  the  Christian  Camp.  Erection  of  Sante 
Fe.  Negotiations  for  Surrender.  Capitulaton  of  Granada.  Com- 
motions in  Granada.  Preparations  for  occupying  the  City.  The 
Cross  raised  on  the  Alhambra.  Fate  of  Abdallah.  Results  of 
the  War  of  Granada.  Its  Moral  Influence.  Its  Military  Influ- 
ence. Destiny  of  the  Moors.  Death  and  Character  of  the  Mar- 
quis of  Cadiz.  Notice  of  Bernaldez,  Curate  of  Los  Palacios.  Irv- 
ing’s Chronicle  of  Granada.  ......  324-339 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


APPLICATION  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  AT  THE  SPANISH  COURT. 

Maritime  Enterprises  of  the  Portuguese.  Early  Spanish  Discoveries. 
Early  History  of  Columbus.  Belief  of  Land  in  the  West.  Colum- 
bus applies  to  Portugal.  To  the  Court  of  Castile.  Referred  to  a 
Council.  His  Application  rejected.  He  prepares  to  leave  Spain. 
Interposition  in  his  Behalf.  Columbus  at  Sante  Fe.  Negotia- 
tions again  broken  off.  The  Queen’s  favorable  Disposition. 


20 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Final  Arrangement  with  Columbus.  Tie  sails  on  his  first  Voyage. 
Indifference  to  his  Enterprise.  Acknowledgments  due  to  Isa- 
bella  . 340-351 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS  FROM  SPAIN. 

Excitement  against  the  Jews.  Fomented  by  the  Clergy.  Violent  Con- 
duct of  Torquemada.  Edict  of  Expulsion.  Its  severe  Operation. 
Constancy  of  the  Jews.  Routes  of  the  Emigrants.  Their  Suf- 
ferings in  Africa.  In  other  countries.  Whole  Number  of  Exiles. 
Disastrous  Results.  True  Motives  of  the  Edict.  Contemporary 
Judgments.  Mistaken  Piety  of  the  Queen.  . . . 352-361 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OF  FERDINAND. — RETURN  AND  SECOND  VOY- 
AGE OF  COLUMBUS. 

The  Sovereigns  visit  Aragon.  Attempt  on  Ferdinand’s  Life.  General 
Consternation.  Loyalty  of  the  People.  Slow  Recovery  of  the 
King.  Punishment  of  the  Assassin.  Return  of  Columbus.  Dis- 
covery of  the  West  Indies.  Joyous  Reception  of  Columbus.  His 
Progress  to  Barcelona.  Interview  with  the  Sovereigns.  Sensa- 
tions caused  by  the  Discovery.  Board  for  Indian  Affairs.  Regu- 
lations of  Trade.  Preparations  for  a Second  Voyage.  Conver- 
sion of  the  Natives.  New  powers  granted  to  Columbus.  Appli- 
cation to  Rome.  Famous  Bulls  of  Alexander  VI.  Jealousy  of  the 
Court  of  Lisbon.  Wary  Diplomacy.  Second  Voyage  of  Colum- 
bus. Mission  to  Portugal.  Disgust  of  John  II.  Treaty  of  Tor- 
desillas.  . . . , 362-376 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. — CULTIVATION  OF  THE  COURT. — CLASSICAL 
LEARNING. — SCIENCE. 

Ferdinand’s  Education  neglected.  Instruction  of  Isabella.  Her  Col- 
lection of  Books.  Tuition  of  the  Infantas.  Of  Prince  John.  The 
Queen’s  Care  for  the  Education  of  her  Nobles.  Labors  of  Martyr. 

Of  Lucio  Marineo.  Scholarship  of  the  Nobles.  Accomplished 
Women.  Classical  Learning.  Lebrija.  Arias  Barbosa.  Merits 
of  the  Spanish  Scholars.  Universities.  vSacred  Studies.  Other 
Sciences.  Printing  introduced.  The  Queen  encourages  it.  Its 
rapid  Diffusion.  Actual  Progress  of  Science.  . . . 377~3%9 


CONTENTS. 


21 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Page 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. — ROMANCES  OF  CHIVALRY. —LYRICAL  POETRY. 
— THE  DRAMA. 

This  Reign  an  Epoch  in  Polite  Letters.  Romances  of  Chivalry.  Their 
pernicious  Effects.  Ballads  or  Romances.  Early  Cultivation  in 
Spain.  Resemblance  to  the  English.  Moorish  Minstrelsy.  Its 
Date  and  Origin.  Its  high  Repute.  Numerous  Editions  of  the 
Ballads.  Lyric  Poetry.  Cancionero  General.  Its  Literary  Value. 

Low  State  of  Lyric  Poetry.  Coplas  of  Manrique.  Rise  of  the 
Spanish  Diama.  Tragicomedy  of  Celestina.  Criticism  on  it.  It 
opened  the  Way  to  Dramatic  Writing.  Numerous  Editions  of  it. 
Juan  de  la  Encina.  His  Dramatic  Eclogues.  Torres  de  Naharro. 

His  Comedies.  Similar  in  Spirit  with  the  later  Dramas.  Not 
acted  in  Spain.  Low  condition  of  the  Stage.  Tragic  Drama. 
Oliva’s  Classic  Imitations.  Not  popular.  National  Spirit  of  the 
Literature  of  this  Epoch,  Moratin’s  Dramatic  Criticism.  , 390-407 


INTRODUCTION. 


SECTION  I. 

VIEW  OF  THE  CASTILIAN  MONARCHY  BEFORE  THE 
FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Early  History  and  Constitution  of  Castile. — Invasion  of  the  Arabs. — Slow 
Reconquest  of  the  Country. — Religious  Enthusiasm  of  the  Spaniards. 
— Influence  of  the  Minstrelsy. — Their  Chivalry. — Castilian  Towns. — 
Cortes. — Its  Powers. — Its  Boldness. — Wealth  of  the  Cities. — The  No- 
bility.— Their  Privileges  and  Wealth.  — Knights. — Clergy. — Poverty  of 
the  Crown. — Limited  Extent  of  the  Prerogative. 

For  several  hundred  years  after  the  great  Saracen  invasion 
in  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  Spain  was  broken  up 
into  a number  of  small,  but  independent  states,  divided  in 
their  interests,  and  often  in  deadly  hostility  with  one  another. 
It  was  inhabited  by  races,  the  most  dissimilar  in  their  origin, 
religion,  and  government,  the  least  important  of  which  has 
exerted  a sensible  influence  on  the  character  and  institutions 
of  its  present  inhabitants.  At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, these  various  races  were  blended  into  one  great  nation, 
under  one  common  rule.  Its  territorial  limits  were  widely 
extended  by  discovery  and  conquest.  Its  domestic  institu- 
tions, and  even  its  literature,  were  moulded  into  the  form, 
which,  to  a considerable  extent,  they  have  maintained  to  the 
present  day.  It  is  the  object  of  the  present  narrative  to 
exhibit  the  period,  in  which  these  momentous  results  were 
effected; — the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

By  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  number  of 
states,  into  which  the  country  had  been  divided,  was  reduced 
to  four;  Castile,  Aragon,  Navarre,  and  the  Moorish  kingdom 
of  Granada.  The  last,  comprised  within  nearly  the  same 
limits  as  the  modern  province  of  that  name,  was  all  th  re- 
mained to  the  Moslems  of  their  once  vast  possessions  in  the 


24 


INTRODUCTION. 


Peninsula.  Its  concentrated  population  gave  it  a degree  of 
strength  altogether  disproportioned  to  the  extent  of  its  ter- 
ritory; and  the  profuse  magnificence  of  its  court,  which 
rivalled  that  of  the  ancient  caliphs,  was  supported  by  the 
labors  of  a sober,  industrious  people,  under  whom  agriculture 
and  several  of  the  mechanic  arts  had  reached  a degree  of 
excellence,  probably  unequalled  in  any  other  part  of  Europe 
during  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  little  kingdom  of  Navarre,  embosomed  within  the 
Pyrenees,  had  often  attracted  the  avarice  of  neighboring 
and  more  powerful  states.  But,  since  their  selfish  schemes 
operated  as  a mutual  check  upon  each  other,  Navarre  still 
continued  to  maintain  her  independence,  when  all  the  smaller 
states  in  the  Peninsula  had  been  absorbed  in  the  gradually 
increasing  dominion  of  Castile  and  Aragon. 

This  latter  kingdom  comprehended  the  province  of  that 
name,  together  with  Catalonia  and  Valencia.  Under  its 
auspicious  climate  and  free  political  institutions,  its  inhabi- 
tants displayed  an  uncommon  share  of  intellectual  and  moral 
energy.  Its  long  line  of  coast  opened  the  way  to  an  ex- 
tensive and  flourishing  commerce;  and  its  enterprising  navy 
indemnified  the  nation  for  the  scantiness  of  its  territory  at 
home,  by  the  important  foreign  conquests  of  Sardinia,  Sicily, 
Naples,  and  the  Balearic  Isles. 

The  remaining  provinces  of  Leon,  Biscay,  th^.  Asturias, 
Galicia,  Old  and  New  Castile,  Estramadura,  Murcia,  and 
Andalusia,  fell  to  the  crown  of  Castile,  which,  thus  extend- 
ing its  sway  over  an  unbroken  line  of  country  from  the  Bay 
of  Biscay  to  the  Mediterranean,  seemed  by  the  magnitude 
of  its  territory,  as  well  as  by  its  antiquity  (for  it  was  there 
that  the  old  Gothic  monarchy  may  be  said  to  have  first 
revived  after  the  great  Saracen  invasion),  to  be  entitled  to  a 
preeminence  over  the  other  states  of  the  Peninsula.  This 
claim,  indeed,  appears  to  have  been  recognized  at  an  early 
period  of  her  history.  Aragon  did  homage  to  Castile  for  her 
territory  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Ebro,  untii  the  twelfth 
century,  as  did  Navarre,  Portugal,  and,  at  a later  period, 
the  Moorish  kingdom  of  Granada.1  And,  when  at  length 
the  various  states  of  Spain  were  consolidated  into  one  mon- 
archy, the  capital  of  Castile  became  the  capital  of  the  new 
empire  and  her  language  the  language  of  the  court  and  of 
literature. 

It  will  facilitate  our  inquiry  into  the  circumstances  which 
immediately  led  to  these  results,  if  we  briefly  glance  at  the 
prominent  features  in  the  early  history  and  constitution 


CASTILE.  25 

the  two  principal  Christian  states,  Castile  and  Aragon,  pre- 
vious to  the  fifteenth  century.2 

The  Visigoths  who  overran  the  Peninsula,  in  the  fifth 
century,  brought  with  them  the  same  liberal  principles  of 
government  which  distinguished  their  Teutonic  brethren. 
Their  crown  was  declared  elective  by  a formal  legislative 
act.3  Laws  were  enacted  in  the  great  national  councils, 
composed  of  prelates  and  nobility,  and  not  unfrequently 
ratified  in  an  assembly  of  the  people.  Their  code  of  juris- 
prudence, although  abounding  in  frivolous  detail,  contained 
many  admirable  provisions  for  the  security  of  justice;  and, 
in  the  degree  of  civil  liberty  which  it  accorded  to  the  Roman 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  far  transcended  those  of  most  of 
the  other  barbarians  of  the  north.4  In  short,  their  simple 
polity  exhibited  the  germ  of  some  of  those  institutions,  which, 
with  other  nations,  and  under  happier  auspices,  have  formed 
the  basis  of  a well-regulated  constitutional  liberty,6 

But,  while  in  other  countries  the  principles  of  a free  gov- 
ernment were  slowly  and  gradually  unfolded,  their  develop- 
ment was  much  accelerated  in  Spain  by  an  event,  which,  at 
the  time,  seemed  to  threaten  their  total  extinction, — the  great 
Saracen  invasion  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century. 
The  religious,  as  well  as  the  political  institutions  of  the  Arabs, 
were  too  dissimilar  to  those  of  the  conquered  nation,  to  allow 
the  former  to  exercise  any  very  sensible  influence  over  the 
latter  in  these  particulars.  In  the  spirit  of  toleration,  which 
distinguished  the  early  followers  of  Mahomet,  they  conceded 
to  such  of  the  Goths,  as  were  willing  to  continue  among 
them  after  the  conquest,  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  religious, 
as  well  as  of  many  of  the  civil  privileges  which  they  possessed 
under  the  ancient  monarchy.0  Under  this  liberal  dispensa- 
tion it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  many  preferred  remaining  in 
the  pleasant  regions  of  their  ancestors,  to  quitting  them  for 
a life  of  poverty  and  toil.  These,  however,  appear  to  have 
been  chiefly  of  the  lower  order;7  and  the  men  of  higher  rank, 
or  of  more  generous  sentiments,  who  refused  to  accept  a 
nominal  and  precarious  independence  at  the  hands  of  their 
oppressors,  escaped  from  the  overwhelming  inundation  into 
the  neighboring  countries  of  France,  Italy,  and  Britain,  or 
retreated  behind  those  natural  fortresses  of  the  north,  the 
Asturian  hills  and  the  Pyrenees,  whither  the  victorious  Sa- 
racen disdained  to  pursue  them,8 

Here  the  broken  remnant  of  the  nation  endeavored  to 
revive  the  forms,  at  least,  of  the  ancient  government.  But 
it  may  well  be  conceived,  how  imperfect  these  must  have 
Vol.  I. — 2. 


26 


INTRODUCTION. 


been  under  a calamity,  which,  breaking  up  all  the  artificial 
distinctions  of  society,  seemed  to  resolve  it  at  once  into  its 
primitive  equality.  The  monarch,  once  master  of  the  whole 
Peninsula,  now  beheld  his  empire  contracted  to  a few  barren, 
inhospitable  rocks.  The  noble,  instead  of  the  broad  lands 
and  thronged  halls  of  his  ancestors,  saw  himself  at  best  but 
the  chief  of  some  wandering  horde,  seeking  a doubtful  sub- 
sistence, like  himself,  by  rapine.  The  peasantry,  indeed,  may 
be  said  to  have  gained  by  the  exchange;  and,  in  a situation, 
in  which  all  factitious  distinctions  were  of  less  worth  than 
individual  prowess  and  efficiency,  they  rose  in  political  con- 
sequence. Even  slavery,  a sore  evil  among  the  Visigoths,  as 
indeed  among  all  the  barbarians  of  German  origin,  though 
not  effaced,  lost  many  of  its  most  revolting  features,  under 
the  more  generous  legislation  of  later  times.9 

A sensible  and  salutary  influence,  at  the  same  time,  was 
exerted  on  the  moral  energies  of  the  nation,  which  had  been 
corrupted  in  the  long  enjoyment  of  uninterrupted  prosperity. 
Indeed,  so  relaxed  were  the  morals  of  the  court,  as  well  as 
of  the  clergy,  and  so  enervated  rad  all  classes  become,  in 
the  general  diffusion  of  luxury,  that  some  authors  have  not 
scrupled  to  refer  to  these  causes  principally  the  perdition  of 
the  Gothic  monarchy.  An  entire  reformation  in  these  habits 
was  necessarily  effected  in  a situation,  where  a scanty  sub- 
sistence could  only  be  earned  by  a life  of  extreme  temperance 
and  toil,  and  where  it  was  often  to  be  sought,  sword  in  hand, 
from  an  enemy  far  superior  in  numbers.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  vices  of  the  Spaniards,  they  cannot  have  been 
those  of  effeminate  sloth.  Thus  a sober,  hardy,  and  inde- 
pendent race  was  gradually  formed,  prepared  to  assert  their 
ancient  inheritance,  and  to  lay  the  foundations  of  far  more 
liberal  and  equitable  forms  of  government,  than  were  known 
to  their  ancestors. 

At  first,  their  progress  was  slow  and  almost  imperceptible. 
The  Saracens,  indeed,  reposing  under  the  sunny  skies  of 
Andalusia,  so  congenial  with  their  own,  seemed  willing  to 
relinquish  the  sterile  regions  of  the  north,  to  an  enemy  whom 
they  despised.  But,  when  the  Spaniards,  quitting  the  shelter 
of  their  mountains,  descended  into  the  open  plains  of  Leon 
and  Castile,  they  found  themselves  exposed  to  the  predatory 
incursions  of  the  Arab  cavalry,  who,  sweeping  over  the  face 
of  the  country,  carried  off  in  a single  foray  the  hard-earned 
produce  of  a summer’s  toil.  It  was  not  until  they  had  reached 
some  natural  boundary,  as  the  river  Douro,  or  the  chain  of 
the  Guadarrama,  that  they  were  enabled,  by  constructing  a 


CASTILE. 


27 


line  of  fortifications  along  these  primitive  bulwarks,  to  secure 
their  conquests,  and  oppose  an  effectual  resistance  to  the 
destructive  inroads  of  their  enemies. 

Their  own  dissensions  were  another  cause  of  their  tardy 
progress.  The  numerous  petty  states,  which  rose  from  the 
ruins  of  the  ancient  monarchy,  seemed  to  regard  each  other 
with  even  a fiercer  hatred  than  that  with  which  they  viewed 
the  enemies  of  their  faith;  a circumstance  that  more  than 
once  brought  the  nation  to  the  verge  of  ruin.  More  Christian 
blood  was  wasted  in  these  national  feuds,  than  in  all  their 
encounters  with  the  infidel.  The  soldiers  of  Fernan  Gongalez, 
a chieftain  of  the  tenth  century,  complained,  that  their  master 
made  them  lead  the  life  of  very  devils,  keeping  them  in  the 
harness  day  and  night,  in  wars,  not  against  the  Saracens, 
but  one  another.10 

These  circumstances  so  far  palsied  the  arm  of  the  Chris- 
tians, that  a century  and  a half  elapsed  after  the  invasion, 
before  they  had  penetrated  to  the  Douro,11  and  nearly  thrice 
that  period  before  they  had  advanced  the  line  of  conquest 
to  the  Tagus,12  notwithstanding  this  portion  of  the  country 
had  been  comparatively  deserted  by  the  Mahometans.  But 
it  was  easy  to  foresee  that  a people,  living,  as  they  did,  under 
circumstances  so  well  adapted  to  the  development  of  both 
physical  and  moral  energy,  must  ultimately  prevail  over  a 
nation  oppressed  by  despotism,  and  the  effeminate  indul- 
gence, to  which  it  was  naturally  disposed  by  a sensual  religion 
and  a voluptuous  climate.  In  truth,  the  early  Spaniard  was 
urged  by  every  motive,  that  can  give  efficacy  to  human  pur- 
pose. Pent  up  in  his  barren  mountains,  he  beheld  the  pleas- 
ant valleys  and  fruitful  vineyards  of  his  ancestors  delivered 
over  to  the  spoiler,  the  holy  places  polluted  by  his  abominable 
rites,  and  the  crescent  glittering  on  the  domes,  which  were 
once  consecrated  by  the  venerated  symbol  of  his  faith.  His 
cause  became  the  cause  of  Heaven.  The  church  published 
her  bulls  of  crusade,  offering  liberal  indulgences  to  those 
who  served,  and  Paradise  to  those  who  fell  in  battle,  against 
the  infidel.  The  ancient  Castilian  was  remarkable  for  his 
independent  resistance  of  papal  encroachment;  but  the  pecu- 
liarity of  his  situation  subjected  him  in  an  uncommon  degree 
to  ecclesiastical  influence  at  home.  Priests  mingled  in  the 
council  and  the  camp,  and,  arrayed  in  their  sacerdotal  robes, 
not  unfrequently  led  the  armies  to  battle.13  They  interpreted 
the  will  of  Heaven  as  mysteriously  revealed  in  dreams  and 
visions.  Miracles  were  a familiar  occurrence.  The  violated 
tombs  of  the  saints  sent  forth  thunders  and  lightnings  to 


28 


INTRODUCTION, 


consume  the  invaders;  and,  when  the  Christians  fainted  in 
the  fight,  the  apparition  of  their  patron,  St.  James,  mounted 
on  a milk-white  steed,  and  bearing  aloft  the  banner  of  the 
cross,  was  seen  hovering  in  the  air,  to  rally  their  broken 
squadrons,  and  lead  them  on  to  victory.14  Thus  the  Spaniard 
looked  upon  himself,  as  in  a peculiar  manner  the  care  of 
Providence.  For  him  the  laws  of  nature  were  suspended. 
He  was  a soldier  of  the  Cross,  fighting  not  only  for  his  coun- 
try, but  for  Christendom.  Indeed,  volunteers  from  the 
remotest  parts  of  Christendom  eagerly  thronged  to  serve 
under  his  banner;  and  the  cause  of  religion  was  debated  with 
the  same  ardor  in  Spain,  as  on  the  plains  of  Palestine.15 
Hence  the  national  character  became  exalted  by  a religious 
fervor,  which  in  later  days,  alas!  settled  into  a fierce  fana- 
ticism. Hence  that  solicitude  for  the  purity  of  the  faith, 
the  peculiar  boast  of  the  Spaniards,  and  that  deep  tinge  of 
superstition,  for  which  they  have  ever  been  distinguished 
above  the  other  nations  of  Europe. 

The  long  wars  with  the  Mahometans  served  to  keep  alive' 
in  their  bosoms  the  ardent  glow  of  patriotism;  and  this  was 
still  further  heightened  by  the  body  of  traditional  minstrelsy, 
which  commemorated  in  these  wars  the  heroic  deeds  of  their 
ancestors.  The  influence  of  such  popular  compositions  on  a 
simple  people  is  undeniable.  A sagacious  critic  ventures  to 
pronounce  the  poems  of  Homer  the  principal  bond  which 
united  the  Grecian  states.16  Such  an  opinion  may  be  deemed 
somewhat  extravagant.  It  cannot  be  doubted,  however, 
that  a poem  like  that  of  the  “Cid,”  which  appeared  as  early 
as  the  twelfth  century,17  by  calling  up  the  most  inspiring 
national  recollections  in  connection  with  their  favorite  hero, 
must  have  operated  powerfully  on  the  moral  sensibilities  of 
the  people. 

It  is  pleasing  to  observe,  in  the  cordial  spirit  of  these  early 
effusions,  little  of  the  ferocious  bigotry  which  sullied  the 
character  of  the  nation,  in  after  ages.1*  The  Mahometans 
of  this  period  far  excelled  their  enemies  in  general  refine- 
ment, and  had  carried  some  branches  of  intellectual  culture 
to  a height  scarcely  surpassed  by  Europeans  in  later  times. 
The  Christians,  therefore,  notwithstanding  their  political 
aversion  to  the  Saracens,  conceded  to  them  a degree  of 
respect,  which  subsided  into  feelings  of  a very  different  com- 
plexion, as  they  themselves  rose  in  the  scale  of  civilization. 
This  sentiment  of  respect  tempered  the  ferocity  of  a warfare, 
which,  although  sufficiently  disastrous  in  its  details,  affords 
examples  of  a generous  courtesy,  that  would  do  honor  to  the 


THE  CID 


CASTILE. 


29 


politest  ages  of  Europe.19  The  Spanish  Arabs  were  accom- 
plished in  all  knightly  exercises,  and  their  natural  fondness 
for  magnificence,  which  shed  a lustre  over  the  rugged  fea- 
tures of  chivalry,  easily  communicated  itself  to  the  Christian 
cavaliers.  In  the  intervals  of  peace,  these  latter  frequented 
the  courts  of  the  Moorish  princes,  and  mingled  with  their 
adversaries  in  the  comparatively  peaceful  pleasures  of  the 
tourney,  as  in  war  they  vied  with  them  in  feats  of  Quixotic 
gallantry.20 

The  nature  of  this  warfare  between  two  nations,  inhabi- 
tants of  the  same  country,  yet  so  dissimilar  in  their  religious 
and  social  institutions,  as  to  be  almost  the  natural  enemies  of 
each  other,  was  extremely  favorable  to  the  exhibition  of  the 
characteristic  virtues  of  chivalry.  The  contiguity  of  the 
hostile  parties  afforded  abundant  opportunities  for  personal 
rencounter  and  bold  romantic  enterprise.  Each  nation  had 
its  regular  military  associations,  who  swore  to  devote  their 
lives  to  the  service  of  God  and  their  country,  in  perpetual 
war  against  the  infidel?'  The  Spanish  knight  became  the 
true  hero  of  romance,  wandering  over  his  own  land,  and 
even  into  the  remotest  climes,  in  quest  of  adventures;  and, 
as  late  as  the  fifteenth  century,  we  find  him  in  the  courts  of 
England  and  Burgundy,  doing  battle  in  honor  of  his  mistress, 
and  challenging  general  admiration  by  his  uncommon  personal 
intrepidity.22 

This  romantic  spirit  lingered  in  Castile,  long  after  the  age 
of  chivalry  had  become  extinct  in  other  parts  of  Europe, 
continuing  to  nourish  itself  on  those  illusions  of  fancy,  which 
were  at  length  dispelled  by  the  caustic  satire  of  Cervantes. 

Thus  patriotism,  religious  loyalty,  and  a proud  sense  of 
independence,  founded  on  the  consciousness  of  owing  their 
possessions  to  their  personal  valor,  became  characteristic 
traits  of  the  Castilians  previously  to  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  then  the  oppressive  policy  and  fanaticism  of  the  Austrian 
dynasty  contrived  to  throw  into  the  shade  these  generous 
virtues.  Glimpses  of  them,  however,  might  long  be  discerned 
in  the  haughty  bearing  of  the  Castilian  noble,  and  in  that 
erect,  high-minded  peasantry,  wfiom  oppression  has  not  yet 
been  able  wholly  to  subdue.23 

To  the  extraordinary  position,  in  which  the  nation  was 
placed,  may  also  be  referred  the  liberal  forms  of  its  political 
institutions,  as  well  as  a more  early  developement  of  them 
than  took  place  in  other  countries  of  Europe.  From  the 
exposure  of  the  Castilian  towns  to  the  predatory  incursions  of 
the  Arabs,  it  became  necessary,  not  only  that  they  should  be 


3° 


INTRODUCTION. 


strongly  fortified,  but  that  every  citizen  should  be  trained  to 
bear  arms  in  their  defence.  An  immense  increase  of  conse- 
quence was  given  to  the  burgesses,  who  thus  constituted  the 
most  effective  part  of  the  national  militia.  To  this  circum- 
stance, as  well  as  to  the  policy  of  inviting  the  settlement  of 
frontier  places  by  the  grant  of  extraordinary  privileges  to  the 
inhabitants,  is  to  be  imputed  the  early  date,  as  well  as  liberal 
character,  of  the  charters  of  community  in  Castile  and  Leon.24 
These,  although  varying  a good  deal  in  their  details,  gen- 
erally conceded  to  the  citizens  the  right  of  electing  their 
own  magistrates  for  the  regulation  of  municipal  affairs. 
Judges  were  appointed  by  this  body  for  the  administration 
of  civil  and  criminal  law,  subject  to  an  appeal  to  the  royal 
tribunal.  No  person  could  be  affected  in  life  or  property, 
except  by  a decision  of  this  municipal  court;  and  no  cause, 
while  pending  before  it,  could  be  evoked  thence  into  the 
superior  tribunal.  In  order  to  secure  the  barriers  of  justice 
more  effectually  against  the  violence  of  power,  so  often 
superior  to  law  in  an  imperfect  state  of  society,  it  was  pro- 
vided in  many  of  the  charters,  that  no  nobles  should  be  per- 
mitted to  acquire  real  property  within  the  limits  of  the  com- 
munity; that  no  fortress  or  palace  should  be  erected  by  them 
there;  that  such  as  might  reside  within  its  territory,  should 
be  subject  to  its  jurisdiction;  and  that  any  violence,  offered 
by  them  to  its  inhabitants,  might  be  forcibly  resisted  with 
impunity.  Ample  and  inalienable  funds  were  provided  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  municipal  functionaries,  and  for  other 
public  expenses.  A large  extent  of  circumjacent  country, 
embracing  frequently  many  towns  and  villages,  was  annexed 
to  each  city  with  the  right  of  jurisdiction  over  it.  All  arbi- 
trary tallages  were  commuted  for  a certain  fixed  and  mode- 
rate rent.  An  officer  was  appointed  by  the  crown  to  reside 
within  each  community,  whose  province  it  was  to  superintend 
the  collection  of  this  tribute,  to  maintain  public  order,  and 
to  be  associated  with  the  magistrates  of  each  city  in  the 
command  of  the  forces  it  was  bound  to  contribute  toward  the 
national  defence.  Thus  while  the  inhabitants  of  the  great 
towns  in  other  parts  of  Europe  were  languishing  in  feudal 
servitude,  the  members  of  the  Castilian  corporations,  living 
under  the  protection  of  their  own  laws  and  magistrates  in 
time  of  peace,  and  commanded  by  their  own  officers  in  war, 
were  in  full  enjoyment  of  all  the  essential  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  freemen.25 

It  is  true,  that  they  were  often  convulsed  by  intestine 
feuds;  that  the  laws  were  often  loosely  administered  by  im 


CASTILE. 


31 


competent  judges;  and  that  the  exercise  of  so  many  impor- 
tant prerogatives  of  independent  states  inspired  them  with 
feelings  of  independence,  which  led  to  mutual  rivalry,  and 
sometimes  to  open  collision.  But  with  all  this,  long  after 
similar  immuities  in  the  free  cities  of  other  countries,  as 
Italy  for  example,26  had  been  sacrificed  to  the  violence  of 
faction  or  the  lust  of  power,  those  of  the  Castilian  cities  not 
only  remained  unimpaired,  but  seemed  to  acquire  additional 
stability  with  age.  This  circumstance  is  chiefly  imputable  to 
the  constancy  of  the  national  legislature,  which,  until  the 
voice  of  liberty  was  stifled  by  a military  despotism,  was  ever 
ready  to  interpose  its  protecting  arm  in  defence  of  constitu- 
tional rights. 

The  earliest  instance  on  record  of  popular  representation 
in  Castile  occurred  at  Burgos,  in  1169; 27  nearly  a century 
antecedent  to  the  celebrated  Leicester  parliament.  Each  city 
had  but  one  vote,  whatever  might  be  the  number  of  its 
representatives.  A much  greater  irregularity,  in  regard  to 
the  number  of  cities  required  to  send  deputies  to  cortes  on 
different  occasions,  prevailed  in  Castile,  than  ever  existed 
in  England;28  though,  previously  to  the  fifteenth  century, 
this  does  not  seem  to  have  proceeded  from  any  design  of 
infringing  on  the  liberties  of  the  people.  The  nomination 
of  these  was  originally  vested  in  the  householders  at  large, 
but  was  afterward  confined  to  the  municipalities;  a most 
mischievous  alteration,  which  subjected  their  election  even- 
tually to  the  corrupt  influence  of  the  crown.29  They  assem- 
bled in  the  same  chamber  with  the  higher  orders  of  the 
nobility  and  clergy;  but  on  questions  of  moment,  retired  to 
deliberate  by  themselves.30  After  the  transaction  of  other 
business,  their  own  petitions  were  presented  to  the  sovereign, 
and  his  assent  gave  them  the  validity  of  laws.  The  Castilian 
commons,  by  neglecting  to  make  their  money  grants  depends 
on  correspondent  concessions  from  the  crown,  relinquished 
that  powerful  check  on  its  operations  so  beneficially  exerted 
in  the  British  parliament,  but  in  vain  contended  for  even 
there,  till  a much  later  period  than  that  now  under  con- 
sideration. Whatever  may  have  have  been  the  right  of  the 
nobility  and  clergy  to  attend  in  cortes,  their  sanction  was 
not  deemed  essential  to  the  validity  of  legislative  acts;31  for 
their  presence  was  not  even  required  in  many  assemblies  of 
the  nation  which  occurred  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries.32  The  extraordinary  power  thus  committed  to 
the  commons  was,  on  the  whole,  unfavorable  to  their  liber- 
ties. It  deprived  them  of  the  sympathy  and  cooperation  of 


32 


INTRODUCTION. 


the  great  orders  of  the  state,  whose  authority  alone  could 
have  enabled  them  to  withstand  the  encroachments  of  arbi- 
trary power,  and  who,  in  fact,  did  eventually  desert  them  in 
their  utmost  need.33 

But,  notwithstanding  these  defects,  the  popular  branch  of 
the  Castilian  cortes,  very  soon  after  its  admission  into  that 
body,  assumed  functions  and  exercised  a degree  of  power  on 
the  whole  superior  to  that  enjoyed  by  it  in  other  European 
legislatures.  It  was  soon  recognized  as  a fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  the  constitution,  that  no  tax  could  be  imposed  with- 
out its  consent;34  and  an  express  enactment  to  this  effect 
was  suffered  to  remain  on- the  statute  book,  after  it  had  be- 
come a dead  letter,  as  if  to  remind  the  nation  of  the  liberties 
it  had  lost.35  The  commons  showed  a wise  solicitude  in 
regard  to  the  mode  of  collecting  the  public  revenue,  often- 
times more  onerous  to  the  subject  than  the  tax  itself.  They 
watched  carefully  over  its  appropriation  to  its  destined  uses. 
They  restrained  a too  prodigal  expenditure,  and  ventured 
more  than  once  to  regulate  the  economy  of  the  royal  house- 
hold.36 They  kept  a vigilant  eye  on  the  conduct  of  public 
officers,  as  well  as  on  the  right  administration  of  justice,  and 
commissions  were  appointed  at  their  suggestion  for  inquiring 
into  its  abuses.  They  entered  into  negotiation  for  alliances 
with  foreign  powers,  and,  by  determining  the  amount  of 
supplies  for  the  maintenance  of  troops  in  time  of  war,  pre- 
served a salutary  check  over  military  operations.37  The 
nomination  of  regencies  was  subject  to  their  approbation, 
and  they  defined  the  nature  of  the  authority  to  be  intrusted 
to  them.  Their  consent  was  esteemed  indispensable  to  the 
validity  of  a title  to  the  crown,  and  this  prerogative,  or  at 
least  the  image  of  it,  has  continued  to  survive  the  wreck  of 
their  ancient  liberties.38  Finally,  they  more  than  once  set 
aside  the  testamentary  provisions  of  the  sovereigns  in  regard 
to  the  succession.39 

Without  going  further  into  detail,  enough  has  been  said 
to  show  the  high  powers  claimed  by  the  commons,  previously 
to  the  fifteenth  century,  which,  instead  of  being  confined  to 
ordinary  subjects  of  legislation,  seem,  in  some  instances,  to 
have  reached  to  the  executive  duties  of  the  administration. 
It  would,  indeed,  show  but  little  acquaintance  with  the  social 
condition  of  the  middle  ages,  to  suppose  that  the  practical 
exercise  of  these  powers  always  corresponded  with  their 
theory.  We  trace  repeated  instances,  it  is  true,  in  which 
they  we'*e  claimed  and  successfully  exerted;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  multiplicity  of  remedial  statutes  proves  too 


CASTILE, 


33 


plainly  how  often  the  rights  of  the  people  were  invaded  by 
the  violence  of  the  privileged  orders,  or  the  more  artful  and 
systematic  usurpations  of  the  erown.  But,  far  from  being 
intimidated  by  such  acts,  the  representatives  in  cortes  were 
ever  ready  to  stand  forward  as  the  intrepid  advocates  of 
constitutional  freedom;  and  the  unqualified  boldness  of  their 
language  on  such  occasions,  and  the  consequent  concessions 
of  the  sovereign,  are  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  real  extent 
of  their  power,  and  show  how  cordially  they  must  have  been 
supported  by  public  opinion. 

It  would  be  improper  to  pass  by  without  notice  an  anom- 
alous institution  peculiar  to  Castile,  which  sought  to  secure 
the  public  tranquillity  by  means  scarcely  compatible  them- 
selves with  civil  subordination.  I refer  to  the  celebrated 
Hermandad , or  Holy  Brotherhood,  as  the  association  was 
sometimes  called,  a name  familiar  to  most  readers  in  the 
lively  fictions  of  Le  Sage,  though  conveying  there  no  very 
adequate  idea  of  the  extraordinary  functions  which  it  assumed 
at  the  period  under  review.  Instead  of  a regularly  organized 
police,  it  then  consisted  of  a confederation  of  the  principal 
cities  bound  together  by  solemn  league  and  covenant,  for 
the  defence  of  their  liberties  in  seasons  of  civil  anarchy.  Its 
affairs  were  conducted  by  deputies,  who  assembled  at  stated 
intervals  for  this  purpose,  transacting  their  business  under  a 
common  seal,  enacting  laws  which  they  were  careful  tc 
transmit  to  the  nobles  and  even  the  sovereign  himself,  and 
enforcing  their  measures  by  an  armed  force.  This  wild  kind 
of  justice,  so  characteristic  of  an  unsettled  state  of  society, 
repeatedly  received  the  legislative  sanction;  and,  however 
formidable  such  a popular  engine  may  have  appeared  to  the 
eye  of  the  monarch,  he  was  often  led  to  countenance  it  by  a 
sense  of  his  own  impotence,  as  well  as  of  the  overweening 
power  of  the  nobles,  against  whom  it  was  principally  directed. 
Hence  these  associations,  although  the  epithet  may  seem 
somewhat  overstrained,  have  received  the  appellation  of 
“cortes  extraordinary.”40 

With  these  immunities,  the  cities  of  Castile  attained  a 
degree  of  opulence  and  splendor  unrivalled,  unless  in  Italy, 
during  the  middle  ages.  At  a very  early  period,  indeed, 
their  contact  with  the  Arabs  had  familiarized  them  with  a 
better  system  of  agriculture,  and  a dexterity  in  the  mechanic 
arts  unknown  in  other  parts  of  Christendom/1  On  the  occu- 
pation of  a conquered  town,  we  find  it  distributed  into  quar- 
ters or  districts,  appropriated  to  the  several  craftG,  whose 
members  were  incorporated  into  guilds,  under  the  regulation 


34 


INTRODUCTION,, 


of  magistrates  and  by-laws  of  their  own  appointment.  In- 
stead of  the  unworthy  disrepute,  into  which  the  more  humble 
occupations  have  since  fallen  in  Spain,  they  were  fostered  by 
a liberal  patronage,  and  their  professors  in  some  instances 
elevated  to  the  rank  of  knighthood.42  The  excellent  breed 
of  sheep,  which  early  became  the  subject  of  legislative  solici- 
tude, furnished  them  with  an  important  staple,  which,  together 
with  the  simpler  manufactures,  and  the  various  products 
of  a prolific  soil,  formed  the  materials  of  a profitable  com- 
merce.43 Augmentation  of  wealth  brought  with  it  the  usual 
appetite  for  expensive  pleasures;  and  the  popular  diffusion 
of  luxury  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  is  attested 
by  the  fashionable  invective  of  the  satirist,  and  by  the  impo- 
tence of  repeated  sumptuary  enactments.44  Much  of  this 
superfluous  wealth,  however,  was  expended  on  the  construc- 
tion of  useful  public  works.  Cities,  from  which  the  nobles 
had  once  been  so  jealously  excluded,  came  now  to  be  their 
favorite  residence.45  But,  while  their  sumptuous  edifices  and 
splendid  retinues  dazzled  the  eyes  of  the  peaceful  burghers, 
their  turbulent  spirit  was  preparing  the  way  for  those  dismal 
scenes  of  faction,  which  convulsed  the  little  commonwealths 
to  their  center  curing  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  flourishing  condition  of  the  communities  gave  their 
representatives  a proportional  increase  of  importance  in  the 
national  assembly.  The  liberties  of  the  people  seemed  to 
take  deeper  root  in  the  midst  of  those  political  convulsions, 
so  frequent  in  Castile,  which  unsettled  the  ancient  preroga- 
tives of  the  crown.  Every  new  revolution  was  followed  by 
new  concessions  on  the  part  of  the  sovereign,  and  the  popu- 
lar authority  continued  to  advance  with  a steady  progress 
until  the  accession  of  Henry  the  Third,  of  Trastamara,  in 
1 393?  when  it  may  be  said  to  have  reached  its  zenith.  A 
disputed  title  and  a disastrous  war  compelled  the  father  of 
this  prince,  John  the  First,  to  treat  the  commons  with  a 
deference  unknown  to  his  predecessors.  We  find  four  of 
their  number  admitted  into  his  privy  council,  and  six  asso- 
ciated in  the  regency,  to  which  he  confided  the  government 
of  the  kingdom  during  his  son's  minority. 4fi  A remarkable 
fact,  which  occurred  in  this  reign,  showing  the  important 
advances  made  by  the  commons  in  political  estimation,  was 
the  substitution  of  the  sons  of  burgesses  for  an  equal 
number  of  those  of  the  nobility,  who  were  stipulated  to  be 
delivered  as  hostages  for  the  fulfilment  of  a treaty  with  Por- 
tugal, in  1393. 47  There  will  be  occasion  to  notice,  in  the 
first  chapter  of  this  History,  some  of  the  circumstances. 


CASTILE, 


35 


which,  contributing  to  undermine  the  power  of  the  commons, 
prepared  the  way  for  the  eventual  subversion  ot  the  consti- 
tution. 

The  peculiar  situation  of  Castile,  which  had  been  so 
favorable  to  popular  rights,  was  eminently  so  to  those  of  the 
aristocracy.  The  nobles,  embarked  with  their  sovereign  in 
the  same  common  enterprise  of  rescuing  their  ancient  patri- 
mony from  its  invaders,  felt  entitled  to  divide  with  him  the 
spoils  of  victory.  Issuing  forth,  at  the  head  of  their  own 
retainers,  from  their  strongholds  or  castles  (the  great  num- 
ber of  which  was  originally  implied  in  the  name  of  the  coun- 
try),48 they  were  continually  enlarging  the  circuit  of  their 
territories,  with  no  other  assistance  than  that  of  their  own 
good  swords.49  This  independent  mode  of  effecting  their 
conquests  would  appear  unfavorable  to  the  introduction  of 
the  feudal  system,  which,  although  its  existence  in  Castile  is 
clearly  ascertained,  by  positive  law,  as  well  as  usage,  never 
prevailed  to  any  thing  like  the  same  extent  as  it  did  in  the 
sister  kingdom  of  Aragon,  and  other  parts  of  Europe.50 

The  higher  nobility,  or  ricos  hombres , were  exempted  from 
general  taxation,  and  the  occasional  attempt  to  infringe  on 
this  privilege  in  seasons  of  great  public  emergency,  was 
uniformly  repelled  by  this  jealous  body.61  They  could  not  be 
imprisoned  for  debt;  nor  be  subjected  to  torture,  so  repeat- 
edly sanctioned  in  other  cases  by  the  municipal  law  of  Castile. 
They  had  the  right  of  deciding  their  private  feuds  by  an 
appeal  to  arms;  a right  of  which  they  liberally  availed  them- 
selves.52 They  also  claimed  the  privilege,  when  aggrieved, 
of  denaturalizing  themselves,  or,  in  other  words,  of  publicly 
renouncing  their  allegiance  to  their  sovereign,  and  of  enlist- 
ing under  the  banners  of  his  enemy.53  The  number  of  petty 
states,  which  swarmed  over  the  Peninsula,  afforded  ample 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  this  disorganizing  prerogative. 
The  Laras  are  particularly  noticed  by  Mariana,  as  having  a 
“great  relish  for  rebellion, ” and  the  Castros  as  being  much 
in  the  habit  of  going  over  to  the  Moors  54  They  assumed 
the  license  of  arraying  themselves  in  armed  confederacy 
against  the  monarch,  on  any  occasion  of  popular  disgust, 
and  they  solemnized  the  act  by  the  most  imposing  ceremonials 
of  religion.55  Their  rights  of  jurisdiction,  derived  to  them, 
it  would  seem,  originally  from  royal  grant,6*  were  in  a great 
measure  defeated  by  the  liberal  charters  of  incorporation, 
which,  in  imitation  of  the  sovereign,  they  conceded  to  their 
vassals,  as  well  as  by  the  gradual  encroachment  of  the  royal 
judicatures.”  In  virtue  of  their  birth  they  monopolized  al' 


36 


INTRODUCTION, 


the  higher  offices  of  state,  as  those  of  constable  and  admiral 
of  Castile,  adelantados  or  governors  of  the  provinces,  cities, 
etc.58  They  secured  to  themselves  the  grand-masterships  of 
the  military  orders,  which  placed  at  their  disposal  an  immense 
amount  of  revenue  and  patronage.  Finally,  they  entered 
into  the  royal  or  privy  council,  and  formed  a constituent 
portion  of  the  national  legislature. 

These  important  prerogatives  were  of  course  favorable  to 
the  accumulation  of  great  wealth.  Their  estates  were 
scattered  over  every  part  of  the  kingdom,  and,  unlike  the 
grandees  of  Spain  at  the  present  day,59  they  resided  on  them 
in  person,  maintaining  the  state  of  petty  sovereigns,  and 
surrounded  by  a numerous  retinue,  who  served  the  purposes 
of  a pageant  in  time  of  peace,  and  an  efficient  military  force 
in  war.  The  demesnes  of  John,  lord  of  Biscay,  confiscated 
by  Alfonso  the  Eleventh  to  the  use  of  the  crown,  in  1327, 
amounted  to  more  than  eighty  towns  and  castles.60  The 
“good  constable’ ’ Davalos,  in  the  time  of  Henry  the  Third, 
could  ride  through  his  own  estates  all  the  way  from  Seville 
to  Compostella,  almost  the  two  extremities  of  the  kingdom.61 
Alvaro  de  Luna,  the  powerful  favorite  of  John  the  Second, 
could  muster  twenty  thousand  vassals.62  A contemporary, 
who  gives  a catalogue  of  the  annual  rents  of  the  principal 
Castilian  nobility  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  or  beginning  of 
the  following  century,  computes  several  at  fifty  and  sixty 
thousand  ducats  a year,63  an  immense  income,  if  we  take  into 
consideration  the  value  of  money  in  that  age.  The  same 
writer  estimates  their  united  revenues  as  equal  to  one  third 
of  those  in  the  whole  kingdom.64 

These  ambitious  nobles  did  not  consume  their  fortunes, 
or  their  energies  in  a life  of  effeminate  luxury.  From  their 
earliest  boyhood,  they  were  accustomed  to  serve  in  the  ranks 
against  the  infidel,65  and  their  whole  subsequent  lives  were 
occupied  either  with  war,  or  with  those  martial  exercises 
which  reflect  the  image  of  it  Looking  back  with  pride  to 
their  ancient  Gothic  descent,  and  to  those  times,  when  they 
had  stood  forward  as  the  peers,  the  electors  of  their  sovereign, 
they  could  ill  brook  the  slightest  indignity  at  his  hand.66 
With  these  haughty  feelings  and  martial  habits,  and  this 
enormous  assumption  of  power,  it  may  readily  be  conceived 
that  they  would  not  suffer  the  anarchical  provisions  of  the 
constitution,  which  seemed  to  concede  an  almost  unlimited 
license  of  rebellion,  to  remain  a dead  letter.  Accordingly 
we  find  them  perpetually  convulsing  the  kingdom  with  their 
schemes  of  selfish  aggrandizement.  The  petitions  of  the 


CASTILE. 


37 


commons  are  filled  with  remonstrances  on  their  various 
oppressions,  and  the  evils  resulting  from  their  long,  desolat- 
ing feuds.  So  that,  notwithstanding  the  liberal  forms  of 
its  constitution,  there  was  probably  no  country  in  Europe, 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  so  sorely  afflicted  with  the  vices  of 
intestine  anarchy,  as  Castile.  These  were  still  further 
aggravated  by  the  improvident  donations  of  the  monarch  to 
the  aristocracy,  in  the  vain  hope  of  conciliating  their  attach- 
ment, but  which  swelled  their  already  overgrown  power  to 
such  a height,  that,  by  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
it  not  only  overshadowed  that  of  the  throne,  but  threatened 
to  subvert  the  liberties  of  the  state. 

Their  self-confidence,  however,  proved  eventually  their 
ruin.  They  disdained  a cooperation  with  the  lower  orders 
in  defence  of  their  privileges,  and  relied  too  unhesitatingly 
on  their  power  as  a body,  to  feel  jealous  of  their  exclusion 
from  the  national  legislature,  where  alone  they  could  have 
made  an  effectual  stand  against  the  usurpations  of  the  crown. 
The  course  of  this  work,  will  bring  under  review  the  dex- 
terous policy,  by  which  the  crown  contrived  to  strip  the 
aristocracy  of  its  substantial  privileges,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  the  period,  when  it  should  retain  possession  only  of 
a few  barren  though  ostentatious  dignities.07 

The  inferior  orders  of  nobility,  the  hidalgos , (whose  dig- 
nity, like  that  of  the  ricos  hombres , would  seem,  as  their  name 
imports,  to  have  been  originally  founded  on  wealth),68  and 
the  cavalleros , or  knights,  enjoyed  many  of  the  immunities 
of  the  higher  class,  especially  that  of  exemption  from  taxa- 
tion.09 Knighthood  appears  to  have  been  regarded  with 
especial  favor  by  the  law  of  Castile.  Its  ample  privileges 
and  its  duties  are  defined  with  a precision,  and  in  a spirit 
of  romance,  that  might  have  served  for  the  court  of  King 
Arthur.70  Spain  was  indeed  the  land  of  chivalry.  The 
respect  for  the  sex,  which  had  descended  from  the  Visigoths,71 
was  mingled  with  the  religious  enthusiasm,  which  had  been 
kindled  in  the  long  wars  with  the  infidel.  The  apotheosis 
of  chivalry,  in  the  person  of  their  apostle  and  patron,  St. 
James,72  contributed  still  further  to  this  exaltation  of  senti- 
ment, which  was  maintained  by  the  various  military  orders, 
who  devoted  themselves,  in  the  bold  language  of  the  age, 
to  the  service  “ of  God  and  the  ladies.”  So  that  the  Spaniard 
may  be  said  to  have  put  in  action  what,  in  other  countries, 
passed  for  the  extravagancies  of  the  minstrel.  An  example 
of  this  occurs  in  the  fifteenth  century,  when  a passage  of 
arms  was  defended  at  Orbigo,  not  far  from  the  shrine  of 


3$ 


INTRODUCTION. 


Compostella,  by  a Castilian  knight,  named  Sueho  de  Que- 
nones,  and  his  nine  companions,  against  all  comers,  in  the 
presence  of  John  the  Second  and  his  court.  Its  object  was 
to  release  the  knight  from  the  obligation,  imposed  on  him 
by  his  mistress,  of  publicly  wearing  an  iron  collar  round  his 
neck  every  Thursday.  The  jousts  continued  for  thirty  days, 
and  the  doughty  champions  fought  without  shield  or  target, 
with  weapons  bearing  points  of  Milan  steel.  Six  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  encounters  took  place,  and  one  hundred 
and  sixty-six  lances  were  broken,  when  the  emprise  was 
declared  to  be  fairly  achieved.  The  whole  affair  is  narrated 
with  becoming  gravity  by  an  eye-witness,  and  the  reader 
may  fancy  himself  perusing  the  adventures  of  a Launcelot 
or  an  Amadis.73 

The  influence  of  the  ecclesiastics  in  Spain  may  be  traced 
back  to  the  age  of  the  Visigoths,  when  they  controlled  the 
affairs  of  the  state  in  the  great  national  councils  of  Toledo. 
This  influence  was  maintained  by  the  extraordinary  position 
of  the  nation  after  the  conquest.  The  holy  warfare,  in 
which  it  was  embarked,  seemed  to  require  the  cooperation 
of  the  clergy,  to  propitiate  Heaven  in  its  behalf,  to  interpret 
its  mysterious  omens,  and  to  move  all  the  machinery  of 
miracles,  by  which  the  imagination  is  so  powerfully  affected 
in  a rude  and  superstitious  age.  They  even  condescended, 
in  imitation  of  their  patron  saint,  to  mingle  in  the  ranks, 
and,  with  the  crucifix  in  their  hands,  to  lead  the  soldiers  on 
to  battle.  Examples  of  these  militant  prelates  are  to  be 
found  in  Spain,  so  late  as  the  sixteenth  century.74 

But,  while  the  native  ecclesiastics  obtained  such  complete 
ascendency  over  the  popular  mind,  the  Roman  See  could 
boast  of  less  influence  in  Spain  than  in  any  other  country  in 
Europe.  The  Gothic  liturgy  was  alone  received  as  canonical 
until  the  eleventh  century;76  and,  until  the  twelfth,  the  sov- 
ereign held  the  right  of  jurisdiction  over  all  ecclesiastical 
causes,  of  collating  to  benefices,  or  at  least  of  confirming  or 
annulling  the  election  of  the  chapters.  The  code  of  Alfonso 
the  Tenth,  however,  which  borrowed  its  principles  of  juris- 
prudence from  the  civil  and  canon  law,  completed  a revolu- 
tion already  begun,  and  transferred  these  important  pre- 
rogatives in  the  pope,  who  now  succeeded  in  establishing  a 
usurpation  over  ecclesiastical  rights  in  Castile,  similar  to  that 
which  had  been  before  effected  in  other  parts  of  Christendom. 
Some  of  these  abuses,  as  that  of  the  nomination  of  foreigners 
to  benefices,  were  carried  to  such  an  impudent  height,  as 
repeatedly  provoked  the  indignant  remonstrances  of  the 


CASTILE. 


39 


cortes.  The  ecclesiastics,  eager  to  indemnify  themselves 
for  what  they  had  sacrificed  to  Rome,  were  more  than  ever 
solicitous  to  assert  their  independence  of  the  royal  juris- 
diction. They  particularly  insisted  on  their  immunity  from 
taxation,  and  were  even  reluctant  to  divide  with  the  laity 
the  necessary  burdens  of  a war,  which,  from  its  sacred 
character,  would  seem  to  have  imperative  claims  on  them.76 

Notwithstanding  the  immediate  independence  thus  estab- 
lished on  the  head  of  the  church  by  the  legislation  of  Alfonso 
the  Tenth,  the  general  immunities  secured  by  it  to  the 
ecclesiastics  operated  as  a powerful  bounty  on  their  increase; 
and  the  mendicant  orders  in  particular,  that  spiritual  militia 
of  the  popes,  were  multiplied  over  the  country  to  an  alarming 
extent.  Many  of  their  members  were  not  only  incompetent 
to  the  duties  of  their  profession,  being  without  the  least 
tincture  of  liberal  culture,  but  fixed  a deep  stain  on  it  by 
the  careless  laxity  of  their  morals.  Open  concubinage  was 
familiarly  practised  by  the  clergy,  as  well  as  laity,  of  the 
period;  and,  so  far  from  being  reprobated  by  the  law  of  the 
land,  seems  anciently  to  have  been  countenanced  by  it.77 
This  moral  insensibility  may  probably  be  referred  to  the 
contagious  example  of  their  Mahometan  neighbors;  but, 
from  whatever  source  derived,  the  practice  was  indulged  to 
such  a shameless  extent,  that,  as  the  nation  advanced  in 
refinerrient,  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  it  be- 
came the  subject  of  frequent  legislative  enactments,  in  which 
the  concubines  of  the  clergy  are  described  as  causing  general 
scandal  by  their  lawless  effrontery  and  ostentatious  magnifi- 
cence of  apparel.78 

Notwithstanding  this  prevalent  licentiousness  of  the 
Spanish  ecclesiastics,  their  influence  became  every  day  more 
widely  extended,  while  this  ascendency,  for  which  they  were 
particularly  indebted  in  that  rude  age  to  their  superior 
learning  and  capacity,  was  perpetuated  by  their  enormous 
acquisitions  of  wealth.  Scarcely  a town  was  reconquered 
from  the  Moors,  without  a considerable  portion  of  its  territory 
being  appropriated  to  the  support  of  some  ancient,  or  the 
foundation  of  some  new,  religious  establishment.  These 
were  the  common  reservoir,  into  which  flowed  the  copious 
streams  of  private  as  well  as  royal  bounty;  and,  when  the 
consequences  of  these  alienations  in  mortmain  came  to  be 
visible  in  the  impoverishment  of  the  public  revenue,  every 
attempt  at  legislative  interference  was  in  a great  measure 
defeated  by  the  piety  or  superstition  of  the  age.  The  abbess 
of  the  monaster^  nf  Hue! gas,  which  was  situated  within  the 


40 


INTRODUCTION. 


precincts  of  Burgos,  and  contained  within  its  walls  one 
hundred  and  fifty  nuns  of  the  noblest  families  in  Castile, 
exercised  jurisdiction  over  fourteen  capital  towns,  and  more 
than  fifty  smaller  places;  and  she  was  accounted  inferior  to  the 
queen  only  in  dignity.79  The  archbishop  of  Toledo  by  virtue 
of  his  office  primate  of  Spain  and  grand  chancellor  of  Castile, 
was  esteemed,  after  the  pope,  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
dignitary  in  Christendom.  His  revenues,  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  exceeded  eighty  thousand  ducats;,  while 
the  gross  amount  of  those  of  the  subordinnate  beneficiaries 
of  his  church  rose  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand.  He 
could  muster  a greater  number  of  vassals  than  any  other 
subject  in  the  kingdom,  and  held  jurisdiction  over  fifteen 
large  and  populous  towns,  besides  a great  number  of  inferior 
places.80 

These  princely  funds,  when  intrusted  to  pious  prelates, 
were  magnificently  dispensed  in  useful  public  works,  and 
especially  in  the  foundation  of  eleemosynary  institutions, 
with  which  every  great  city  in  Castile  was  liberally  supplied.81 
But,  in  the  hands  of  worldly  men,  they  were  perverted  from 
these  noble  uses  to  the  gratification  of  personal  vanity,  or 
the  disorganizing  schemes  of  faction.  The  moral  perceptions 
of  the  people,  in  the  mean  time,  were  confused  by  the  visible 
demeanor  of  a hierarchy,  so  repugnant  to  the  natural  concep- 
tions of  religious  duty.  They  learned  to  attach  an  exclusive 
value  to  external  rites,  to  the  forms  rather  than  the  spirit  of 
Christianity;  estimating  the  piety  of  men  by  their  speculative 
opinions,  rather  than  their  practical  conduct.  The  ancient 
Spaniards,  notwithstanding  their  prevalent  superstition,  were 
untinctured  with  the  fiercer  religious  bigotry  of  later  times; 
and  the  uncharitable  temper  of  their  priests,  occasionally 
disclosed  in  the  heats  of  religious  war,  was  controlled  by 
public  opinion,  which  accorded  a high  degree  of  respect  to 
the  intellectual,  as  well  as  political  superiority  of  the  Arabs. 
But  the  time  was  now  coming  when  these  ancient  barriers 
were  to  be  broken  down;  when  a difference  of  religious 
sentiment  was  to  dissolve  all  the  ties  of  human  brotherhood; 
when  uniformity  of  faith  was  to  be  purchased  by  the  sacrifice 
of  any  rights,  even  those  of  intellectual  freedom;  when,  in 
fine,  the  Christian  and  the  Mussulman,  the  oppressor  and 
the  oppressed,  were  to  be  alike  bowed  down  under  the 
strong  arm  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny.  The  means,  by  which 
a revolution  so  disastrous  to  Spain  was  effected,  as  well  as 
the  incip;~nt  stages  of  it  progress,  are  topcis  that  fall  within 
the  scope  of  the  present  history. 


CASTILE. 


4* 


From  the  preceding  survey  of  the  constitutional  privileges 
enjoyed  by  the  different  orders  of  the  Castilian  monarchy, 
previous  to  the  fifteenth  century,  it  is  evident  that  the  royal 
authority  must  have  been  circumscribed  within  very  narrow 
limits.  The  numerous  states,  into  which  the  great  Gothic 
empire  was  broken  after  the  Conquest,  were  individually  too 
insignificant  to  confer  on  their  respective  sovereigns  the  pos- 
session of  extensive  power,  or  even  to  authorize  their 
assumption  of  that  state,  by  which  it  is  supported  in  the  eyes 
of  the  vulgar.  When  some  more  fortunate  prince,  by  con- 
quest or  alliance,  had  enlarged  the  circle  of  his  dominions, 
and  thus  in  some  measure  remedied  the  evil,  it  was  sure  to 
recur  upon  his  death,  by  the  subdivision  of  his  estates  among 
his  children.  This  mischievous  practice  was  even  counte- 
nanced by  public  opinion;  for  the  different  districts  of  the 
country,  in  their  habitual  independence  of  each  other,  ac- 
quired an  exclusiveness  of  feeling,  which  made  it  difficult 
for  them  ever  cordially  to  coalesce;  and  traces  of  this  early 
repugnance  to  each  other  are  to  be  discerned  in  the  mutual 
jealousies  and  local  peculiarities,  which  still  distinguish  the 
different  sections  of  the  Peninsular,  after  their  consolidation 
into  one  monarchy  for  more  than  three  centuries. 

The  election  to  the  crown,  although  no  longer  vested  in 
the  hands  of  the  national  assembly,  as  w7ith  the  Visigoths, 
was  yet  subject  to  its  approbation.  The  title  of  the  heir 
apparent  was  formally  recognized  by  a cortes  convoked  for 
the  purpose;  and,  on  the  demise  of  his  parent,  the  new  sove- 
reign again  convened  the  estates  to  receive  their  oath  of 
allegiance,  which  they  cautiously  withheld,  until  he  had  first 
sworn  to  preserve  inviolate  the  liberties  of  the  constitution. 
Nor  was  this  a merely  nominal  privilege,  as  was  evinced  on 
more  than  one  memorable  occasion.82 

We  have  seen,  in  our  review  of  the  popular  branch  of  the 
government,  how  closely  its  authority  pressed  even  on  the 
executive  functions  of  the  administration.  The  monarch  was 
still  further  controlled,  in  this  department,  by  his  Royal  or 
Privy  Council,  consisting  of  the  chief  nobility  and  great 
officers  of  state,  to  which,  in  later  times,  a deputation  of  the 
commons  was  sometimes  added.63  This  body,  together  with 
the  king,  had  cognizance  of  the  most  important  public  trans- 
actions, whether  of  a civil,  military,  or  diplomatic  nature. 
It  was  established  by  positive  enactment,  that  the  prince, 
without  its  consent,  had  no  right  to  alienate  the  royal 
demesne,  to  confer  pensions  beyond  a very  limited  amount, 
or  to  nominate  to  vacant  benefices.84  His  legislative,  owers 


42 


INTRODUCTION. 


were  to  be  exercised  in  concurrence  with  the  cortes;85  and, 
in  the  judicial  department,  his  authority,  during  the  lattei 
part  of  the  period  under  review,  seems  to  have  been  chiefly 
exercised  in  the  selection  of  officers  for  the  higher  judica- 
tures, from  a list  of  candidates  presented  to  him  on  a vacancy 
by  their  members  concurrently  with  his  privy  council.86 

The  scantiness  of  the  king’s  revenue  corresponded  with 
that  of  his  constitutional  authority.  By  an  ancient  law,  in- 
deed, of  similar  tenor  with  one  familiar  to  the  Saracens,  the 
sovereign  was  entitled  to  a fifth  of  the  spoils  of  victory.87 
This,  in  the  course  of  the  long  wars  with  the  Moslems,  would 
have  secured  him  more  ample  possessions  than  were  enjoyed 
by  any  prince  in  Christendom.  But  several  circumstances 
concurred  to  prevent  it. 

The  long  minorities,  with  which  Castile  was  afflicted  per- 
haps more  than  any  country  in  Europe,  frequently  threw  the 
government  into  the  hands  of  the  principal  nobility,  who 
perverted  to  their  own  emoluments  the  high  powers  intrusted 
to  them.  They  usurped  the  possessions  of  the  crown,  and 
invaded  some  of  its  most  valuable  privileges;  so  that  the 
sovereigns’  subsequent  life  was  often  consumed  in  fruitless 
attempts  to  repair  the  losses  of  his  minority.  He  sometimes, 
indeed,  in  the  impotence  of  other  resources,  resorted  to  such 
unhapy  expedients  as  treachery  and  assassination.88  A 
plasant  tale  is  told  by  the  Spanish  historians,  of  the  more 
innocent  device  of  Henry  the  Third,  for  the  recovery  of  the 
estates  extorted  from  the  crown  by  the  rapacious  nobles 
during  his  minority. 

Returning  home  late  one  evening,  fatigued  and  half 
famished,  from  a hunting  expedition,  he  was  chagrined  to 
find  no  refreshment  prepared  for  him,  and  still  more  so,  to 
learn  from  his  steward,  that  he  had  neither  money  nor  credit 
to  purchase  it.  The  day’s  sport,  however,  fortunately  fur- 
nished the  means  of  appeasing  the  royal  appetite;  and,  while 
this  was  in  progress,  the  steward  took  occasion  to  contrast 
the  indigent  condition  of  the  king  with  that  of  his  nobles, 
who  habitually  indulged  in  the  most  expensive  entertain- 
ments, and  were  that  very  evening  feasting  with  the  arch- 
bishop of  Toledo.  The  prince,  suppressing  his  indigna- 
tion, determined,  like  the  far-famed  caliph,  in  the  “Arabian 
Nights,”  to  inspect  the  affair  in  person,  and,  assuming  a 
disguise,  introduced  himself  privately  into  the  archbishop’s 
palace,  where  he  witnessed  with  his  own  eyes  the  prodigal 
magnificence  of  the  banquet,  teeming  with  costly  wines  and 
the  most  luxurious  viands. 


CASTILE. 


43 


The  next  day  he  caused  a rumor  to  be  circulated  through 
the  court,  that  he  had  fallen  suddenly  and  dangerously  ill. 
The  courtiers,  at  these  tidings,  thronged  to  the  palace;  and, 
when  they  had  all  assembled,  the  king  made  his  appearance 
among  them,  bearing  his  naked  sword  in  his  hand,  and,  with 
an  aspect  of  unusual  severity,  seated  himself  on  his  throne 
at  the  upper  extremity  of  the  apartment. 

After  an  interval  of  silence  in  the  astonished  assembly,  the 
monarch,  addressing  himself  to  the  primate,  inquired  of  him, 
“How  many  sovereigns  he  had  known  in  Castile?”  The 
prelate  answering  four,  Henry  put  the  same  question  to  the 
duke  of  Benevente,  and  so  on  to  the  other  courtiers  in  suc- 
cession. None  of  them,  however,  having  answered  more 
than  five,  “How  is  this,”  said  the  prince,  “that  you,  who 
are  so  old,  should  have  known  so  few,  while  1,  young  as  I am, 
have  beheld  more  than  twenty!  Yes,”  continued  he,  raising 
his  voice,  to  the  astonished  multitude,  “you  are  the  real 
sovereigns  of  Castile,  enjoying  all  the  rights  and  revenues 
of  royalty,  while  I,  stripped  of  my  patrimony,  have  scarcely 
wherewithal  to  procure  the  necessaries  of  life.”  Then  giv- 
ing a concerted  signal,  his  guards  entered  the  apartment, 
followed  by  the  public  executioner  bearing  along  with  him 
the  implements  of  death.  The  dismayed  nobles,  not  relish- 
ing the  turn  the  jest  appeared  likely  to  take,  fell  on  their 
knees  before  the  monarch  and  besought  his  forgiveness, 
promising,  in  requital,  complete  restitution  of  the  fruits  of 
their  rapacity.  Henry,  content  with  having  so  cheaply 
gained  his  point,  allowed  himself  to  soften  at  their  entrea- 
ties, taking  care,  however,  to  detain  their  persons  as  security 
for  their  engagements,  until  such  time  as  the  rents,  royal 
fortresses,  and  whatever  effects  had  been  filched  from  the 
crown,  were  restored.  The  story,  although  repeated  by  the 
gravest  Castilian  writers,  wears,  it  must  be  owned,  a marvel- 
lous tinge  of  romance.  But,  whether  fact,  or  founded  on  it, 
it  may  serve  to  show  the  dilapidated  condition  of  the  revenues 
at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  its  immediate 
causes.89 

Another  circumstance,  which  contributed  to  impoverish  the 
exchequer,  was  the  occasional  political  revolutions  in  Castile, 
in  which  the  adhesion  of  a faction  was  to  be  purchased  only 
by  the  most  ample  concessions  of  the  crown.  Such  was  the 
violent  revolution,  which  placed  the  House  of  Trastamara 
on  the  throne,  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

But  perhaps  a more  operative  cause,  than  all  these,  of  the 
alleged  evil,  was  the  conduct  of  those  imbecile  princes,  who, 


44 


INTRODUCTION. 


with  heedless  prodigality,  squandered  the  public  resources 
on  their  own  personal  pleasures  and  unworthy  minions. 
The  disastrous  reigns  of  John  the  Second  and  Henry  the 
Fourth,  extending  over  the  greater  portion  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  furnish  pertinent  examples  of  this.  It  was  not  un- 
usual, indeed,  for  the  cortes,  interposing  its  paternal  author- 
ity, by  passing  an  act  for  the  partial  resumption  of  grants 
thus  illegally  made,  in  some  degree  to  repair  the  broken 
condition  of  the  finances.  Nor  was  such  a resumption  unfair 
to  the  actual  proprietors.  The  promise  to  maintain  the 
integrity  of  the  royal  demesnes  formed  an  essential  part  of 
the  coronation  oath  of  every  sovereign;  and  the  subject,  on 
whom  he  afterward  conferred  them,  knew  well  by  what  a 
precarious,  illicit  tenure  he  was  to  hold  them. 

From  the  view  which  has  been  presented  of  the  Castilian 
constitution  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  is 
apparent,  that  the  sovereign  was  possessed  of  less  power,  and 
the  people  of  greater,  than  in  other  European  monarchies 
at  that  period.  It  must  be  owned,  however,  as  before  inti- 
mated, that  the  practical  operation  did  not  always  corres- 
pond with  the  theory  of  their  respective  functions  in  these 
rude  times;  and  that  the  powers  of  the  executive,  being  sus- 
ceptible of  greater  compactness  and  energy  in  their  move- 
ments, than  could  poss’bly  belong  to  those  of  more  complex 
bodies,  were  sufficiently  strong  in  the  hands  of  a resolute 
prince,  to  break  down  the  comparatively  feeble  barriers  of 
the  law.  Neither  were  the  relative  privileges,  assigned  to 
the  different  orders  of  the  state,  equitably  adjusted.  Those 
of  the  aristocracy  were  indefinite  and  exorbitant.  The 
license  of  armed  combinations  too,  so  freely  assumed  both 
by  this  order  and  the  commons,  although  operating  as  a 
safety-valve  for  the  escape  of  the  effervescing  spirit  of  the 
age,  was  itself  obviously  repugnant  to  all  principles  of  civil 
obedience,  and  exposed  the  state  to  evils  scarcely  less  disas- 
trous than  those  which  it  was  intended  to  prevent. 

It  was  apparent  that,  notwithstanding  the  magnitude  of 
the  powers  conceded  to  the  nobility  and  the  commons,  there 
were  important  defects,  which  prevented  them  from  resting 
on  any  sound  and  permanent  basis.  The  representation  of 
the  people  in  cortes,  instead  of  partially  emanating,  as  in 
England,  from  an  independent  body  of  landed  proprietors, 
constituting  the  real  strength  of  the  nat:on,  proceeded  ex- 
clusively from  the  cities,  whose  elections  were  much  more 
open  to  popular  caprice  and  ministerial  corruption,  and 
whose  numerous  local  jealousies  prevented  them  from  acting 


CASTILE, 


45 


in  cordial  cooperation.  The  nobles,  notwithstanding  their 
occasional  coalitions,  were  often  arrayed  in  feuds  against 
each  other  They  relied,  for  the  defence  of  their  privileges, 
solely  on  their  physical  strength,  and  heartily  disdained,  in 
any  emergency,  to  support  their  own  case  by  identifying  it 
with  that  of  the  commons.  Hence  it  became  obvious,  that 
the  monarch,  who,  notwithstanding  his  limited  prerogative, 
assumed  the  anomalous  privilege  of  transacting  public  busi- 
ness with  the  advice  of  only  one  branch  of  the  legislature, 
and  of  occasionally  dispensing  altogether  with  the  attendance 
of  the  other,  might,  by  throwing  his  own  influence  into  the 
scale,  give  the  preponderance  to  whichever  party  he  should 
prefer;  and,  by  thus  dexterously  availing  himself  of  their 
opposite  forces,  erect  his  own  authority  on  the  ruins  of  the 
weaker.  How  far  and  how  successfully  this  policy  was  pur- 
sued by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  will  be  seen  in  the  course 
of  this  History. 


Notwithstanding  the  general  diligence  of  the  Spanish  historians,  they  have 
done  little  toward  the  investigation  of  the  constitutional  antiquities  of  Cas 
tile,  until  the  present  century.  Dr.  Geddes’s  meagre  notice  of  the  cortes 
preceded  probably,  by  a long  interval,  any  native  work  upon  that  subject. 
Robertson  frequently  complains  of  the  total  deficiency  of  authentic  sources 
of  information  respecting  the  laws  and  government  of  Castile  ; a circum- 
stance, that  suggests  to  a candid  mind  an  obvious  explanation  of  several 
errors,  into  which  he  has  fallen.  Capmany,  in  the  preface  to  a work,  com- 
piled by  order  of  the  central  junta  in  Seville,  in  1809,  on  the  ancient  organ- 
ization of  the  cortes  in  the  different  states  of  the  Peninsula,  remarks,  that 
“ no  authority  has  appeared,  down  to  the  present  day,  to  instruct  us  in  re- 
gard to  the  origin,  constitution,  and  celebration  of  the  Castilian  cortes,  on 
all  which  topics  there  remains  the  most  profound  ignorance.”  The  melan- 
choly results  to  which  such  an  investigation  must  necessarily  lead,  from  the 
contrast  it  suggests  of  existing  institutions  to  the  freer  forms  of  antiquity, 
might  well  have  deterred  the  modern  Spaniard  from  these  inquiries  ; which, 
moreover,  it  can  hardly  be  supposed,  would  have  received  the  countenance 
of  government.  The  brief  interval,  however,  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century,  when  the  nation  so  ineffectually  struggled  to  resume  its  ancient 
liberties,  gave  birth  to  two  productions,  which  have  gone  far  to  supply  the 
desiderata  in  this  department.  I allude  to  the  valuable  works  of  Marina, 
on  the  early  legislation,  and  on  the  cortes,  of  Castile,  to  which  repeated 
reference  has  been  made  in  this  section.  The  latter,  especially,  presents 
us  with  a full  exposition  of  the  appropriate  functions  assigned  to  the  several 
departments  of  government,  and  with  the  parliamentary  history  of  Castile 
deduced  from  original,  unpublished  records. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  his  copious  illustrations  are  arranged  in  so  unskilful 
a manner  as  to  give  a dry  and  repulsive  air  to  the  whole  work.  The  orig- 
inal documents,  on  which  it  is  established,  instead  of  being  reserved  for  an 
appendix,  and  their  import  only  conveyed  in  the  text,  stare  at  the  reader  in 
every  page,  arrayed  in  all  the  technicalities,  periphrases,  and  repetitions  in- 


46 


INTRODUCTION. 


cident  to  legal  enactments.  The  course  of  the  investigation  is,  moreover, 
frequently  interrupted  by  impertinent  dissertations  on  the  constitution  of 
1812,  in  which  the  author  has  fallen  into  abundance  of  crudities,  which  he 
would  have  escaped,  had  he  but  witnessed  the  practical  operation  of  those 
liberal  forms  of  government,  which  he  so  justly  admires.  The  sanguine 
temper  of  Marina  has  also  betrayed  him  into  the  error  of  putting,  too  uni- 
formly, a favorable  construction  on  the  proceedings  of  the  commons,  and 
of  frequently  deriving  a constitutional  precedent  from  what  can  only  be 
regarded  as  an  accidental  and  transient  exertion  of  power  in  a season  of 
popular  excitement. 

The  student  of  this  department  of  Spanish  history,  may  consult,  in  con- 
junction with  Marina,  Sempere’s  little  treatise,  often  quoted,  on  the  History 
of  the  Castilian  Cortes.  It  is,  indeed,  too  limited  and  desultory  in  its  plan, 
to  afford  any  thing  like  a complete  view  of  the  subject.  But,  as  a sensible 
commentary,  by  one  well  skilled  in  the  topics  that  he  discusses,  it  is  of  un- 
doubted value.  Since  the  political  principles  and  bias  of  the  author  were 
of  an  opposite  character  to  Marina’s,  they  frequently  lead  him  to  opposite 
conclusions  in  the  investigation  of  the  same  facts.  Making  all  allowance 
for  obvious  prejudices,  Sempere’s  work,  therefore,  may  be  of  much  use  in 
correcting  the  erroneous  impressions  made  by  the  former  writer,  whose  fabric 
of  liberty  too  often  rests,  as  exemplified  more  than  once  in  the  preceding 
pages,  on  in  ideal  basis. 

But,  with  every  deduction,  Marina’s  publications  must  be  considered  an 
important  contribution  to  political  science.  They  exhibit  an  able  analysis 
of  a constitution,  which  becomes  singularly  interesting,  from  its  having  fur- 
nished, together  with  that  of  the  sister  kingdom  of  Aragon,  the  earliest 
example  of  representative  government,  as  well  as  from  the  liberal  principles, 
on  which  that  government  was  long  administered. 


SECTION  II. 


REVIEW  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  ARAGON,  TO  THE  MIDDLE 
OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 


Rise  of  Aragon. — Ricos  Hombres. — Their  Immunities. — Their  Turbu- 
lence.— Privileges  of  Union. — The  Legislature. — Its  Forms. — Its 
Powers. — General  Privilege. — Judicial  Functions  of  Cortes. — The 
Justice. — His  great  Authority. — Rise  and  Opulence  of  Barcelona. — 
Her  free  Institutions. — Intellectual  Culture. 

The  political  institutions  of  Aragon,  although  bearing  a 
general  resemblance  to  those  of  Castile,  were  sufficiently 
dissimilar  to  stamp  a peculiar  physiognomy  on  the  character 
of  the  nation,  which  still  continued  after  it  had  been  incor- 
porated with  the  great  mass  of  the  Spanish  monarchy;  It 
was  not  until  the  expiration  of  nearly  five  centuries  after  the 
Saracen  invasion,  that  the  little  district  of  Aragon,  growing 
up  under  the  shelter  of  the  Pyrenees,  was  expanded  into  the 
dimensions  of  the  province  which  now  bears  that  name. 
During  this  period,  it  was  painfully  struggling  into  being, 
like  t 'e  other  states  of  the  Peninsula,  by  dint  of  fierce,  un- 
unintermitted  warfare  with  the  infidel. 

Even  after  this  period,  it  would  probably  have  filled  but 
an  insignificant  space  in  the  map  of  history,  and,  instead  of 
assuming  an  independent  station,  have  been  compelled,  like 
Navarre,  to  accommodate  itself  to  the  potent  monarchies  by 
which  it  was  surrounded,  had  it  not  extended  its  empire  by 
a fortunate  union  with  Catalonia  in  the  twelth,  and  the  con- 
quest of  Valencia  in  the  thirteenth  century.1  These  new 
territories  were  not  only  far  more  productive  than  its  own, 
but  by  their  long  line  of  coast  and  commodious  ports,  en- 
abled the  Aragonese,  hitherto  pent  up  within  their  barren 
mountains,  to  open  a communication  with  distant  regions. 

The  ancient  county  of  Barcelona  had  reached  a higher 
degree  of  civilization  than  Aragon,  and  was  distinguished  by 
institutions  quite  as  liberal.  The  sea-board  would  seem  to 
be  the  natural  seat  of  liberty.  There  is  something  in  the 
very  presence,  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  ocean,  which  in- 
vigorates not  only  the  physical,  but  the  moral  energies  of 


4» 


INTRODUCTION. 


man.  The  adventurous  life  of  the  marinei  familiarizes  him 
with  dangers,  and  early  accustoms  him  to  independence.  In- 
tercourse with  various  climes  opens  new  and  more  copious 
sources  of  knowledge;  an  increased  wealth  brings  with  it  an 
augmentation  of  power  and  consequence.  It  was  in  the 
maritime  cities  scattered  along  the  Mediterranean,  that  the 
seeds  of  liberty  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  were  im- 
planted and  brought  to  maturity.  During  the  Middle  Ages, 
when  the  people  of  Europe  generally  maintained  a toilsome 
and  infrequent  intercourse  with  each  other,  those  situate  ! on 
the  margin  of  this  inland  ocean  found  an  easy  mode  of  com- 
munication across  the  high  road  of  its  waters.  They  mingled 
in  war  too  as  in  peace,  and  this  long  period  is  filled  with 
their  international  contests,  while  the  other  free  cities  of 
Christendom  were  wasting  themselves  in  civil  feuds  and 
degrading  domestic  broils.  In  this  wide  and  various  collision 
their  moral  powers  were  quickened  by  constant  activity;  and 
more  enlarged  views  were  formed,  with  a deeper  conscious- 
ness of  their  own  strength,  than  could  be  obtained  by  those 
inhabitants  of  the  interior,  who  were  conversant  only  with  a 
limi^d  range  of  objects,  and  subjected  to  the  influence  of 
the  same  dull,  monotonous  circumstances. 

Among  these  maritime  republics,  those  of  Catalonia  were 
eminently  conspicuous.  By  the  incorporation  of  this  country 
with  the  kingdom  of  Aragon,  therefore,  the  strength  of  the 
latter  was  greatly  augumented.  The  Aragonese  princes, 
well  aware  of  this,  liberally  fostered  institutions  to  which  the 
country  owed  its  prosperity,  and  skilfully  availed  themselves  of 
its  resources  for  the  aggrandizement  of  their  own  dominions. 
They  paid  particular  attention  to  the  navy,  for  the  more  per- 
fect discipline  of  which  a body  of  laws  was  prepared  by  Peter 
the  Fourth,  in  1354,  that  was  designed  to  render  it  invicible. 
No  allusion  whatever  is  made  in  this  stern  code  to  the  mode 
of  surrendering  to,  or  retreating  from  the  enemy.  The 
commander,  who  declined  attacking  any  force  not  exceeding 
his  own  by  more  than  one  vessel,  was  punished  with  death.2 
The  Catalan  navy  successfully  disputed  the  empire  of  the 
Mediterranean  with  the  fleets  of  Pisa,  and  still  more  of 
Genoa.  With  its  aid,  the  Aragonese  monarchs  achieved  the 
conquest  successively  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  the  Balearic 
Isles,  and  annexed  them  to  the  empire.3  It  penetrated  into 
the  farthest  regions  of  the  Levant;  and  the  expedition  of  the 
Catalans  into  Asia,  which  terminated  with  the  more  splendid 
than  useful  acquisition  of  Athens,  forms  one  of  the  most 
romantic  passages  in  this  stirring  and  adventurous  era.4 


ARAGON. 


49 


But,  while  the  princes  of  Aragon  were  thus  enlarging  the 
bounds  of  their  dominion  abroad,  there  was  probably  not  a 
sovereign  in  Europe  possessed  of  such  limited  authority  at 
home.  The  three  great  states  with  their  dependencies,  which 
constituted  the  Aragonese  monarchy,  had  been  declared  by 
a statute  of  James  the  Second,  in  1319,  inalienable  and  indi- 
visible.6 Each  of  them,  however,  maintained  a separate 
constitution  of  government,  and  was  administered  by  distinct 
laws.  As  it  would  be  fruitless  to  investigate  the  peculiarities 
of  their  respective  institutions,  which  bear  a very  close  affin- 
ity to  one  another,  we  may  confine  ourselves  to  those  of 
Aragon,  which  exhibit  a more  perfect  model  than  those 
either  of  Catalonia  or  Valencia,  and  have  been  far  more 
copiously  illustrated  by  her  writers. 

The  national  historians  refer  the  origin  of  their  govern- 
ment to  a written  constitution  of  about  the  middle  of  the 
ninth  century,  fragments  of  which  are  still  preserved  in  cer- 
tain ancients  documents  and  chronicles.  On  occurrence  of 
a vacancy  in  the  throne,  at  this  epoch,  a monarch  was  elected 
by  the  twelve  principals  nobles,  who  prescribed  a code  of 
laws,  to  the  observance  of  which  he  was  obliged  to  swear 
before  assuming  the  sceptre.  The  import  of  these  laws  was 
to  circumscribe  within  very  narrow  limits  the  authority  of 
the  sovereign,  distributing  the  principal  functions  to  a Jus- 
ticia , or  Justice,  and  these  same  peers,  who,  in  case  of  a 
violation  of  the  compact  by  the  monarch,  were  authorized  to 
withdraw  their  allegiance,  and,  in  the  bold  language  of  the 
ordinance,  “to  sbustitute  any  other  ruler  in  his  stead,  even 
a pagan,  if  they  listed.”  6 The  whole  of  this  wears  much  of 
a fabulous  aspect,  and  may  remind  the  reader  of  the  govern- 
ment which  Ulysses  met  with  in  Phaeacia;  where  King 
Alcinous  is  surrounded  by  his  “twelve  illustrious  peers  or 
archons,”  subordinate  to  himself,  “who,”  says  he,  “rule 
over  the  people,  I myself  being  the  thirteenth.” 7 But 
whether  true  or  not,  this  venerable  tradition  must  be  ad- 
mitted to  have  been  well  calculated  to  repress  the  arrogance 
of  the  Aragonese  monarchs,  and  to  exalt  the  minds  of  their 
subjects  by  the  image  of  ancient  liberty  which  it  presented.8 

The  great  barons  of  Aragon  were  few  in  number.  They 
affected  to  derive  their  decsent  from  the  twelve  peers  above 
mentioned,  and  were  styled  ricos  hombres  de  natura , implying 
by  this  epithet,  that  they  were  not  indebted  for  their  crea- 
tion to  the  will  of  the  sovereign.  No  estate  could  be  legally 
conferred  by  the  crown,  as  an  honor  (the  denomination  of 
fiefs  in  Aragon),  on  any  but  one  of  these  high  nobles.  This, 
Vol.  I. — 3. 


5° 


INTRODUCTION. 


however,  was  in  time  evaded  by  the  monarchs,  who  advanced 
certain  of  their  own  retainers  to  a level  with  the  ancient 
peers  of  the  land;  a measure  which  proved  a fruitful  source 
of  disquietude.9  No  baron  could  be  divested  of  his  fief, 
unless  by  public  sentence  of  the  Justice  and  the  cortes. 
The  proprietor,  however,  was  required,  as  usual,  to  attend 
the  king  in  council,  and  to  perform  military  service,  when 
summoned,  during  two  months  in  the  year,  at  his  own 
charge.10 

The  privileges,  both  honorary  and  substantial,  enjoyed  by 
the  ricos  hombres , were  very  considerable.  They  filled  the 
highest  posts  in  the  state.  They  originally  appointed  judges 
in  their  domains  for  the  cognizance  of  certain  civil  causes, 
and  over  a class  of  their  vassals  exercised  an  unlimited 
criminal  jurisdiction.  They  were  excused  from  taxation 
except  in  specified  cases;  were  exempted  from  ail  corporal 
and  capital  punishment;  nor  could  they  be  imprisoned,  al- 
though their  estates  might  be  sequestrated,  for  debt.  A 
lower  class  of  nobility  styled  infanzones , equivalent  to  the 
Castilian  hidalgos , together  with  the  caballeros , or  knights, 
were  also  possessed  of  important  though  inferior  im- 
munities.11 

The  king  distributed  among  the  great  barons  the  territory 
reconquered  from  the  Moors,  in  proportions  determined  by 
the  amount  of  their  respective  services.  We  find  a stipula- 
tion to  this  effect  from  James  the  First  to  his  nobles,  pre- 
vious to  his  invasion  of  Majorca.12  On  a similar  principle 
they  claimed  nearly  the  whole  of  Valencia.13  On  occupying 
a city,  it  was  usual  to  divide  it  into  barrios , or  districts,  each 
of  which  was  granted  by  way  of  fief  to  some  one  of  the  ricos 
hombres,  from  which  he  was  to  derive  his  revenue.  What 
proportion  of  the  conquered  territory  was  reserved  for  the 
royal  demesne  does  not  appear.14  We  find  one  of  these 
nobles,  Bernard  de  Cabrera,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  manning  a fleet  of  king’s  ships  on  his  own 
credit;  another,  of  the  ancient  family  of  Luna,  in  the  fif- 
teenth century,  so  wealthy  that  he  could  travel  through  an 
almost  unbroken  line  of  his  estates  all  the  way  from  Castile 
to  France.15  With  all  this,  their  incomes  in  general,  in  this 
comparatively  poor  country,  were  very  inferior  to  those  of 
the  great  Castilian  lords.16 

The  laws  conceded  certain  powers  to  the  aristocracy  of  a 
most  dangerous  character.  They  were  entitled,  like  the 
nobles  of  the  sister  kingdom,  to  defy,  and  publicly  renounce 
their  allegiance  to  their  sovereign,  with  the  whimsical  privi- 


ARAGON. 


51 


lege,  in  addition,  of  commending  their  families  and  estates 
to  his  protection,  which  he  was  obliged  to  accord,  until  they 
were  again  reconciled.17  The  mischievous  right  of  private 
war  was  repeatedly  recognized  by  statute.  It  was  claimed 
and  exercised  in  its  full  extent,  and  occasionally  with  cir- 
cumstances of  peculiar  atrocity.  An  instance  is  recorded 
by  Zurita  of  a bloody  feud  between  two  of  these  nobles, 
prosecuted  with  such  inveteracy  that  the  parties  bound  them- 
selves by  solemn  oath,  never  to  desist  from  it  during  their 
lives,  and  to  resist  every  effort,  even  on  the  part  of  the 
crown  itself,  to  effect  a pacification  between  them.18  ThiL 
remnant  of  barbarism  lingered  longer  in  Aragon  than  in  any 
other  country  in  Christendom. 

The  Aragonese  sovereigns,  who  were  many  of  them  pos- 
sessed of  singular  capacity  and  vigor,19  made  repeated 
efforts  to  reduce  the  authority  of  their  nobles  within  more 
temperate  limits.  Peter  the  Second,  by  a bold  stretch  of 
prerogative,  stripped  them  of  their  most  important  rights  of 
jurisdiction.20  James  the  Conqueror  artfully  endeavored  to 
counterbalance  their  weight  by  that  of  the  commons  and  the 
ecclesiastics.21  But  they  were  too  formidable  when  united, 
and  too  easily  united,  to  be  successfully  assailed.  The 
Moorish  wars  terminated,  in  Aragon,  with  the  conquest  of 
Valencia,  or  rather  the  invasion  of  Murcia,  by  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  tumultuous  spirits  of  the 
aristocracy,  therefore,  instead  of  finding  a vent,  as  in 
Castile,  in  these  foreign  expeditions,  were  turned  within, 
and  convulsed  their  own  country  with  perpetual  revolution. 
Haughty  from  the  consciousness  of  their  exclusive  privileges 
and  of  the  limited  number  who  monopolized  them,  the 
Aragonese  barons  regarded  themselves  rather  as  the  rivals 
of  their  sovereign,  than  as  his  inferiors.  Intrenched  within 
the  mountain  fastnesses,  which  the  rugged  nature  of  the 
country  everywhere  afforded,  they  easily  bade  defiance  to 
his  authority.  Their  small  number  gave  a compactness  and 
concert  to  their  operations,  which  could  not  have  been  ob- 
tained in  a multitudinous  body.  Ferdinand  the  Catholic 
v/ell  discriminated  the  relative  position  of  the  Aragonese  and 
Castilian  nobility,  by  saying,  “ it  was  as  difficult  to  divide 
the  one,  as  to  unite  the  other.  ” 22 

These  combinations  became  still  more  frequent  after  for- 
mally receiving  the  approbation  of  King  Alfonso  the  Third, 
who,  in  1287,  signed  the  two  celebrated  ordinances  entitled 
the  “Privileges  of  Union,*  by  which  his  subjects  were 
authorized  to  resort  to  arms  on  an  infringement  of  their 


U„  OF  ILL*  Life*, 


52 


INTRODUCTION. 


liberties.23  The  hermandad  of  Castile  had  never  been  coun- 
tenanced by  legislative  sanction;  it  was  chiefly  resorted  to 
as  a measure  of  police,  and  was  directed  more  frequently 
against  the  disorders  of  the  nobility,  than  of  the  sovereign; 
it  was  organized  with  difficulty,  and,  compared  with  the 
union  of  Aragon,  was  cumbrous  and  languid  in  its  opera- 
tions. While  these  privileges  continued  in  force,  the  nation 
was  delivered  over  to  the  most  frightful  anarchy.  The  least 
offensive  movement,  on  the  part  of  the  monarch,  the  slightest 
encroachment  on  personal  right  or  privilege,  was  the  signal 
for  a general  revolt.  At  the  cry  of  Union , that  “last  voice,” 
says  the  enthusiastic  historian,  “of  the  expiring  republic, 
full  of  authority  and  majesty,  and  an  open  indication  of  the 
insolence  of  kings,”  the  nobles  and  the  cicizens  eagerly 
rushed  to  arms.  The  principal  castles  belonging  to  the 
former  were  pledged  as  security  for  their  fidelity,  and  in- 
trusted to  conservators,  as  they  were  styled,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  direct  the  operations  and  watch  over  the  interests  of 
the  Union.  A common  seal  was  prepared,  bearing  the 
device  of  armed  men  kneeling  before  their  king,  intimating 
at  once  their  loyalty  and  their  resolution,  and  a similar  device 
was  displayed  on  the  standard  and  the  other  military  insig- 
nia of  the  confederates.24 

The  power  of  the  monarch  was  as  nothing  before  this  for- 
midable array.  The  Union  appointed  a council  to  control 
all  his  movements,  and,  in  fact,  during  the  whole  period  of 
its  existence,  the  reigns  of  four  successive  monarchs,  it  may 
be  said  to  have  dictated  law  to  the  land.  At  length  Peter 
the  Fourth,  a despot  in  heart,  and  naturally  enough  impatient 
of  this  eclipse  of  regal  prerogative,  brought  the  matter  to  an 
issue,  by  defeating  the  army  of  the  Union,  at  the  memorable 
battle  of  Epila,  in  1348,  “the  last,”  says  Zurita,  “in  which 
it  was  permitted  to  the  subject  to  take  up  arms  against  the 
sovereign  for  the  cause  of  liberty.”  Then,  convoking  an 
assembly  of  the  states  at  Saragossa,  he  produced  before  them 
the  instrument  containing  the  two  Privileges,  and  cut  it  in 
pieces  with  his  dagger.  In  doing  this,  having  wounded 
himself  in  the  hand,  he  suffered  the  blood  to  trickle  upon 
the  parchment,  exclaiming,  that  “a  law,  which  had  been  the 
occasion  of  so  much  blood,  should  be  blotted  out  by  the 
blood  of  a king.”25  All  copies  of  it,  whether  in  the  public 
archives,  or  in  the  possession  of  private  individuals,  were 
ordered,  under  a heavy  penalty,  to  be  destroyed.  The  statute 
passed  to  that  effect  carefully  omits  the  date  of  the  instru- 
ment, that  all  evidence  of  its  existence  might  perish  with  it.26 


ARAGON, 


53 


Instead  of  abusing  his  victory,  as  might  have  been  antici- 
pated from  his  character,  Peter  adopted  a far  more  magnani- 
mous policy.  He  confirmed  the  ancient  privileges  of  the 
realm,  and  made  in  addition  other  wise  and  salutary  conces- 
sions. From  this  period,  therefore,  is  to  be  dated  the  pos- 
session of  constitutional  liberty  in  Aragon  (for  surely  the 
reign  of  unbridled  license,  above  described,  is  not  deserv- 
ing that  name);  and  this  not  so  much  from  the  acquisition  of 
new  immunities,  as  from  the  more  perfect  security  afforded 
for  the  enjoyment  of  the  old.  The  court  of  the  Justicia, 
that  great  barrier  interposed  by  the  constitution  between 
despotism  on  the  one  hand  and  popular  license  on  the  other, 
was  more  strongly  protected,  and  causes  hitherto  decided  by 
arms  were  referred  for  adjudication  to  this  tribunal.27  From 
this  period,  too,  the  cortes,  whose  voice  was  scarcely  heard 
amid  the  wild  uproar  of  preceding  times,  was  allowed  to  ex- 
tend a beneficial  and  protecting  sway  over  the  land.  And, 
although  the  social  history  of  Aragon,  like  that  of  other 
countries  in  this  rude  age,  is  too  often  stained  with  deeds  of 
violence  and  personal  feuds,  yet  the  state  at  large,  under 
the  steady  operation  of  its  laws,  probably  enjoyed  a more 
uninterrupted  tranquillity  than  fell  to  the  lot  of  any  other 
nation  in  Europe. 

The  Aragonese  cortes  was  composed  of  four  branches,  or 
arms;28  the  ricos  hombres,  or  great  barons;  the  lesser  nobles, 
comprehending  the  knights;  the  clergy;  and  the  commons. 
The  nobility  of  every  denomination  were  entitled  to  a seat 
in  the  legislature.  The  ricos  hombres  were  allowed  to  appear 
by  proxy,  and  a similar  privilege  was  enjoyed  by  baronial 
heiresses.  The  number  of  this  body  was  very  limited,  twelve 
of  them  constituting  a quorum.29  The  arm  of  the  eccle- 
siastics embraced  an  ample  delegation  from  the  inferior  as 
well  as  higher  clergy.30  It  is  affirmed  not  to  have  been  a 
component  of  the  national  legislature  until  more  than  a cen- 
tury and  a half  after  the  admission  of  the  commons.31  In- 
deed the  influence  of  the  church  was  much  less  sensible  in 
Aragon,  than  in  the  other  kingdoms  of  the  Peninsula.  Not- 
withstanding the  humiliating  concessions  of  certain  of  their 
princes  to  the  papal  see,  they  were  never  recognized  by  the 
nation,  who  uniformly  asserted  their  independence  of  the 
temporal  supremacy  of  Rome;  and  who,  as  we  shall  see  here- 
after, resisted  the  introduction  of  the  Inquisition,  that  last 
stretch  of  ecclesiastical  usurpation,  even  to  blood.32 

The  commons  enjoyed  higher  consideration  and  civil  privi- 
leges than  in  Castile.  For  this  they  were  perhaps  somewhat 


54 


INTRODUCTION. 


indebted  to  the  example  of  their  Catalan  neighbors,  the 
influence  of  whose  democratic  institutions  naturally  extended 
to  other  parts  of  the  Aragonese  monarchy.  The  charters 
of  certain  cities  accorded  to  the  inhabitants  privileges  of 
nobility,  particularly  that  of  immunity  from  taxation;  while 
the  magistrates*  of  others  were  permitted  to  take  their  seats 
in  the  order  of  hidalgos.33  From  a very  early  period  we  find 
them  employed  in  offices  of  public  trust,  and  on  important 
missions.34  The  epcoh  of  their  admission  into  the  national 
assembly  is  traced  as  far  back  as  1133,  several  years  earlier 
than  the  commencement  of  popular  representation  in  Castile.35 
Each  city  had  the  right  of  sending  two  or  more  deputies 
selected  from  persons  eligible  to  its  magistracy;  but  with  the 
privilege  of  only  one  vote,  whatever  might  be  the  number  of 
its  deputies.  Any  place,  which  had  been  once  represented 
in  cortes,  might  always  claim  to  be  so.36 

By  a statute  of  1307,  the  convocation  of  the  states,  which 
had  been  annual,  was  declared  biennial.  The  kings,  how- 
ever, paid  little  regard  to  this  provision,  rarely  summoning 
them  except  for  some  specific  necessity.37  The  great  officers 
of  the  crown,  whatever  might  be  their  personal  rank,  were 
jealously  excluded  from  their  deliberations.  The  session 
was  opened  by  an  address  from  the  king  in  person,  a point, 
of  which  they  were  very  tenacious;  after  which  the  different 
arms  withdrew  to  their  separate  apartments.38  The  greatest 
scrupulousness  was  manifested  in  maintaining  the  rights  and 
dignity  of  the  body;  and  their  intercourse  with  one  another, 
and  with  the  king,  was  regulated  by  the  most  precise  forms 
of  parliamentary  etiquette.39  The  subjects  of  deliberation 
were  referred  to  a committee  from  each  order,  who,  after 
conferring  together,  reported  to  their  several  departments. 
Every  question,  it  may  be  presumed,  underwent  a careful 
examination;  as  the  legislature,  we  are  told,  was  usually 
divided  into  two  parties,  “the  one  maintaining  the  rights  of 
the  monarch,  the  other,  those  of  the  nation,”  corresponding 
nearly  enough  with  those  of  our  day.  It  was  in  the  power 
of  any  member  to  defeat  the  passage  of  a bill,  by  opposing 
to  it  his  veto  or  dissent,  formally  registered  to  that  effect. 
He  might  even  interpose  his  negative  on  the  proceedings  of 
the  house,  and  thus  put  a stop  to  the  prosecution  of  all  further 
business  during  the  session.  This  anomalous  privilege, 
transcending  even  that  claimed  in  the  Polish  diet,  must  have 
been  too  invidious  in  its  exercise,  and  too  pernicious  in  its 
consequences,  to  have  been  often  resorted  to.  This  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that  it  was  not  formally  reoealed 


ARAGON. 


55 


until  the  reign  of  Philip  the  Second,  in  1592.  During  the 
interval  of  the  sessions  of  the  legislature,  a deputation  of 
eight  was  appointed,  two  from  each  arm,  to  preside  over 
public  affairs,  particularly  in  regard  to  the  revenue,  and  the 
security  of  justice;  with  authority  to  convoke  a cortes  extra- 
ordinary, whenever  the  exigency  might  demand  it.40 

The  cortes  exercised  the  highest  functions  whether  of  a 
deliberative,  legislative,  or  judicial  nature.  It  had  a right 
to  be  consulted  on  all  matters  of  importance,  especially  on 
those  of  peace  and  war.  No  law  was  valid,  no  tax  could  be 
imposed,  without  its  consent;  and  it  carefully  provided  for 
the  application  of  the  revenue  to  its  destined  uses.41  It 
determined  the  succession  to  the  crown;  removed  obnoxious 
ministers;  reformed  the  household,  and  domestic  expendi- 
ture, of  the  monarch;  and  exercised  the  power,  in  the  most 
unreserved  manner,  of  withholding  supplies,  as  well  as  of 
resisting  what  it  regarded  as  an  encroachment  on  the  liberties 
of  the  nation.42 

The  excellent  commentators  on  the  constitution  of  Aragon 
have  bestowed  comparatively  little  attention  on  the  develop- 
ment of  its  parliamentary  history;  confining  themselves  too 
exclusively  to  mere  forms  of  procedure.  The  defect  has 
been  greatly  obviated  by  the  copiousness  of  their  general 
historians.  But  the  statute-book  affords  the  most  unequi- 
vocal evidence  of  the  fidelity  with  which  the  guardians  of 
the  realm  discharged  the  high  trust  reposed  in  them,  in  the 
numerous  enactments  it  exhibits,  for  the  security  both  of 
person  and  property.  Almost  the  first  page  which  meets  the 
eye  in  this  venerable  record  contains  the  General  Privilege, 
the  Magna  Charta,  as  it  has  been  well  denominated,  of  Ara- 
gon. It  was  granted  by  Peter  the  Great  to  the  cortes  at 
Saragossa,  in  1283.  It  embraces  a variety  of  provisions  for 
the  fair  and  open  administration  of  justice;  for  ascertaining 
the  legitimate  powers  intrusted  to  the  cortes;  for  the  security 
of  property  against  exactions  of  the  crown;  and  for  the  con- 
servation of  their  legal  immunities  to  the  municipal  corpo- 
rations and  the  different  orders  of  nobility.  In  short,  the 
distinguishing  excellence  of  this  instrument,  like  that  of 
Magna  Charta,  consists  in  the  wise  and  equitable  protection 
which  it  affords  to  all  classes  of  the  community.43  The 
General  Privilege,  instead  of  being  wrested,  like  King  John’s 
charter,  from  a pusillanimous  prince,  was  conceded,  reluc- 
tantly enough,  it  is  true,  in  an  assembly  of  the  nation,  by 
one  of  the  ablest  monarchs  who  ever  sat  on  the  throne  of 
Aragon,  at  a time  when  his  arms,  crowned  with  repeated 


56 


INTRODUCTION. 


victory,  had  secured  to  the  state  the  most  important  of  her 
foreign  acquisitions. 

The  Aragonese,  who  rightly  regard  the  General  Privilege 
as  the  broadest  basis  of  their  liberties,  repeatedly  procured 
its  confirmation  by  succeeding  sovereigns.  “By  so  many 
and  such  various  precautions,”  says  Blancas,  ‘‘did  our 
ancestors  establish  that  freedom  which  their  posterity  have 
enjoyed;  manifesting  a wise  solicitude,  that  all  orders  of 
men,  even  kings  themselves,  confined  within  their  own 
sphere,  should  discharge  their  legitimate  functions  without 
jostling  or  jarring  with  one  another;  for  in  this  harmony 
consists  the  temperance  of  our  government.  Alas!”  he 
adds,  ‘‘how  much  of  all  this  has  fallen  into  desuetude  from 
its  antiquity,  or  been  effaced  by  new  customs.”  44 

The  judicial  functions  of  the  cortes  have  not  been  suffi- 
ciently noticed  by  writers.  They  were  extensive  in  their 
operation,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  the  General  Court.  They 
were  principally  directed  to  protect  the  subject  from  the 
oppressions  of  the  crown  and  its  officers;  over  all  which 
cases  it  possessed  original  and  ultimate  jurisdiction.  The 
suit  was  conducted  before  the  Justice,  as  president  of  the 
cortes,  in  its  judicial  capacity,  who  delivered  an  opinion 
conformable  to  the  will  of  the  majority.45  The  authority, 
indeed,  of  this  magistrate  in  his  own.  court  was  fully  equal 
to  providing  adequate  relief  in  all  these  cases.46  But  for 
several  reasons  this  parliamentary  tribunal  was  preferred. 
The  process  was  both  more  expeditious  and  less  expensive 
to  the  suitor.  Indeed,  ‘‘the  most  obscure  inhabitant  of  the 
most  obscure  village  in  the  kingdom,  although  a foreigner,” 
might  demand  redress  of  this  body;  and,  if  he  was  incapable 
of  bearing  the  burden  himself,  the  state  was  bound  to  main- 
tain his  suit,  and  provide  him  with  counsel  at  its  own  charge. 
But  the  most  important  consequence,  resulting  from  this 
legislative  investigation,  was  the  remedial  laws  frequently 
attendant  on  it.  ‘‘And  our  ancestors,”  says  Blancas, 
‘‘deemed  it  great  wisdom  patiently  to  endure  contumely 
and  oppression  for  a season,  rather  than  seek  redress  before 
an  inferior  tribunal,  since,  by  postponing  their  suit  till  the 
meeting  of  cortes,  they  would  not  only  obtain  a remedy  for 
their  own  grievance,  but  one  of  a universal  and  permanent 
application.”  47 

The  Aragonese  cortes  maintained  a steady  control  over 
the  operations  of  government,  especially  after  the  dissolu- 
tion  of  the  Union;  and  the  weight  of  the  commons  was  more 
decisive  in  it,  than  in  other  similar  assemblies  of  that  period. 


ARAGON. 


57 


Its  singular  distribution  into  four  estates  was  favorable  to 
this.  The  knights  and  hidalgos , an  intermediate  order 
between  the  great  nobility  and  the  people,  when  detached 
from  the  former,  naturally  lent  additional  support  to  the 
latter,  with  whom,  indeed,  they  had  considerable  affinity. 
The  representatives  of  certain  cities,  as  well  as  a certain 
class  of  citizens,  were  entitled  to  a seat  in  this  body;48  so 
that  it  approached  both  in  spirit  and  substance  to  something 
like  a popular  representation.  Indeed,  this  arm  of  the  cortes 
was  so  uniformly  vigilant  in  resisting  any  encroachment  on 
the  part  of  the  crown,  that  it  has  been  said  to  represent, 
more  than  any  other,  the  liberties  of  the  nation.49  In  some 
other  particulars  the  Aragonese  commons  possessed  an  ad- 
vantage over  those  of  Castile,  i.  By  postponing  their  money 
grants  to  the  conclusion  of  the  session,  and  regulating  them 
in  some  degree  by  the  previous  dispositions  of  the  crown, 
they  availed  themselves  of  an  important  lever  relinquished 
by  the  Castilian  cortes.50  2.  The  kingdom  of  Aragon  proper 
was  circumscribed  within  too  narrow  limits  to  allow  of  such 
local  jealousies  and  estrangements,  growing  out  of  an  appar- 
ent diversity  of  interests,  as  existed  in  the  neighboring  mon- 
archy. Their  representatives,  therefore,  were  enabled  to 
move  with  a more  hearty  concert,  and  on  a more  consistent 
line  of  policy.  3.  Lastly,  the  acknowledged  right  to  a seat 
in  cortes,  possessed  by  every  city,  which  had  once  been 
represented  there,  and  this  equally  whether  summoned  or 
not,  if  we  may  credit  Capmany,61  must  have  gone  far  to 
preserve  the  popular  branch  from  the  melancholy  state  of 
dilapidation,  to  which  it  was  reduced  in  Castile  by  the  arts 
of  despotic  princes.  Indeed,  the  kings  of  Aragon,  notwith- 
standing occasional  excesses,  seem  never  to  have  attempted 
any  systematic  invasion  on  the  constitutional  rights  of  their 
subjects.  They  well  knew,  that  the  spirit  of  liberty  was 
too  high  among  them  to  endure  it.  When  the  queen  of 
Alfonso  the  Fourth  urged  her  husband,  by  quoting  the 
example  of  her  brother  the  king  of  Castile,  to  punish  certain 
refractory  citizens  of  Valencia,  he  prudently  replied,  “My 
people  are  free,  and  not  so  submissive  as  the  Castilians. 
They  respect  me  as  their  prince,  and  I hold  them  for  good 
vassals  and  comrades.”  62 

No  part  of  the  constitution  of  Aragon  has  excited  more 
interest,  or  more  deservedly,  than  the  office  of  the  Justicia , 
or  Justice;63  whose  extraordinary  functions  were  far  from 
being  limited  to  judicial  matters,  although  in  these  his 
authority  was  supreme.  The  origin  of  this  institution  is 
3* 


58 


INTRODUCTION. 


affirmed  to  have  been  coeval  with  that  of  the  constitution 
or  frame  of  government  itself.54  If  it  were  so,  his  authority 
may  be  said,  in  the  language  of  Blancas,  “to  have  slept  in 
the  scabbard’ ’ until  the  dissolution  of  the  Union;  when  the 
control  of  a tumultuous  aristocracy  was  exchanged  for  the 
mild  and  uniform  operation  of  the  law,  administered  by  this, 
its  supreme  interpreter. 

His  most  important  duties  may  be  briefly  enumerated. 
He  was  authorized  to  pronounce  on  the  validity  of  all  royal 
letters  and  ordinances.  He  possessed,  as  has  been  said, 
concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  cortes  over  all  suits  against 
the  crdwn  and  its  officers.  Inferior  judges  were  bound  to 
consult  him  in  all  doubtful  cases,  and  to  abide  by  his  opinion, 
as  of  “equal  authority,”  in  the  words  of  an  ancient  jurist, 
“with  the  law  itself.”  55  An  appeal  lay  to  his  tribunal  from 
those  of  the  territorial  and  royal  judges.56  He  could  even 
evoke  a cause,  while  pending  before  them,  into  his  own  court, 
and  secure  the  defendant  from  molestation  on  his  giving 
surety  for  his  appearance.  By  another  process,  he  might 
remove  a person  under  arrest  from  the  place  in  which  he 
had  been  confined  by  order  of  an  inferior  court,  to  the  public 
prison  appropriated  to  this  purpose,  there  to  abide  his  own 
examination  of  the  legality  of  his  detention.  These  two 
provisions,  by  which  the  precipitate  and  perhaps  intemperate 
proceedings  of  subordinate  judicatures  were  subjected  to 
the  revision  of  a dignified  and  dispassionate  tribunal,  might 
seem  to  afford  sufficient  security  for  personal  liberty  and 
property.57 

In  addition  to  these  official  functions,  the  Justice  of  Aragon 
was  constituted  a permanent  counsellor  of  the  sovereign,  and, 
as  such,  was  required  to  accompany  him  wherever  he  might 
reside.  He  was  to  advise  the  king  on  all  constitutional 
questions  of  a doubtful  complexion;  and  finally,  on  a new 
accession  to  the  throne,  it  was  his  province  to  administer  the 
coronation  oath;  this  he  performed  with  his  head  covered, 
and  sitting,  while  the  monarch,  kneeling  before  him  bare- 
headed, solemnly  promised  to  maintain  the  liberties  of  the 
kingdom.  A ceremony  eminently  symbolical  of  that  superi- 
ority of  law  over  prerogative,  which  was  so  constantly  asserted 
in  Aragon.68 

It  was  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  institution  of  the  Justicia 
to  interpose  such  an  authority  between  the  crown  and  the 
people,  as  might  suffice  for  the  entire  protection  of  the  latter. 
This  is  the  express  import  of  one  of  the  laws  of  Soprarbe, 
which,  whatever  be  thought  of  their  authenticity,  are  unde- 


ARAGON. 


59 


tiiably  of  very  high  antiquity.69  This  part  of  his  duties  is 
particulalry  insisted  on  by  the  most  eminent  judicial  writers 
of  the  nation.  Whatever  estimate,  therefore,  may  be  formed 
of  the  real  extent  of  his  powers,  as  compared  with  those  of 
similar  functionaries  in  other  states  of  Europe,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  this  ostensible  object  of  their  creation,  thus  open- 
ly asserted,  must  have  had  a great  tendency  to  enforce  their 
practical  operation.  Accordingly  we  find  repeated  examples, 
in  the  history  of  Aragon,  of  successful  interposition  on  the 
part  of  the  Justice  for  the  protection  of  individuals  persecuted 
by  the  crown,  and  in  defiance  of  .every  attempt  at  intimida- 
tion.60 The  kings  of  Aragon,  chafed  by  this  opposition, 
procured  the  resignation  or  deposition,  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  of  the  obnoxious  magistrate.61  But,  as  such  an 
exercise  of  prerogative  must  have  been  altogether  subversive 
of  an  independent  discharge  of  the  duties  of  this  office,  it 
was  provided  by  a statute  of  Alfonso  the  Fifth,  in  1442,  that 
the  Justice  should  continue  in  office  during  life,  removable 
only,  on  sufficient  cause,  by  the  king  and  the  cortes  united.62 

Several  provisions  were  enacted,  in  order  to  secure  the 
nation  more  effectually  against  the  abuse  of  the  high  trust 
reposed  in  this  officer.  He  was  to  be  taken  from  the  eques- 
trian order,  which,  as  intermediate  between  the  high  nobility 
and  the  people,  was  less  likely  to  be  influenced  by  undue 
partiality  to  either.  He  could  not  be  selected  from  the  ricos 
hombres,  since  this  class  was  exempted  from  corporal  punish- 
ment, while  the  Justice  was  made  responsible  to  the  cortes 
for  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties,  under  penalty  of 
death.63  As  this  supervision  of  the  whole  legislature  was 
found  unwieldy  in  practice,  it  was  superseded,  after  various 
modifications  by  a commission  of  members  elected  from  each 
of  the  four  estates,  empowered  to  sit  every  year  in  Saragossa, 
with  authority  to  investigate  the  charges  preferred  against 
the  Justice,  and  to  pronounce  sentence  upon  him.64 

The  Aragonese  writers  are  prodigal  of  their  encomiums  on 
the  preeminence  and  dignity  of  this  functionary,  whose  office 
might  seem,  indeed,  but  a doubtful  expedient  for  balancing 
the  authority  of  the  sovereign;  depending  for  its  success 
less  on  any  legal  powers  confided  to  it,  than  on  the  efficient 
and  constant  support  of  public  opinion.  Fortunately  the 
Justice  of  Aragon  uniformly  received  such  support,  and  was 
thus  enabled  to  carry  the  original  design  of  the  institution 
into  effect,  to  check  the  usurpations  of  the  crown,  as  well  as 
to  control  the  license  of  the  nobility  and  the  people.  A 
series  of  learned  and  independent  magistrates,  by  the  weight 


6 o 


INTRODUCTION. 


of  their  own  character,  gave  additional  dignity  to  the  office. 
The  people,  familiarized  with  the  benignant  operation  of  the 
law,  referred  to  peaceable  arbitration  those  great  political 
questions,  which,  in  other  countries  at  this  period,  must 
have  been  settled  by  a sanguinary  revolution.65  While,  in  the 
rest  of  Europe,  the  law  seemed  only  the  web  to  ensnare  the 
weak,  the  Aragonese  historians  could  exult  in  the  reflection, 
that  the  fearless  administration  of  justice  in  their  land  “pro- 
tected the  weak  equally  with  the  strong,  the  foreigner  with 
the  native.”  Well  might  their  legislature  assert,  that  the 
value  of  their  liberties  more  than  counterbalanced  “the 
poverty  of  the  nation,  and  the  sterility  of  their  soil.”  66 

The  governments  of  Valencia  and  Catalonia,  which,  as  has 
been  already  remarked,  were  administered  independently  of 
each  other  after  their  consolidation  into  one  monarchy,  bore 
a very  near  resemblance  to  that  of  Aragon.67  No  institution, 
however,  corresponding  in  its  functions  with  that  of  the 
Justicia,  seems  to  have  been  obtained  in  either  68  Valencia, 
which  had  derived  a large  portion  of  its  primitive  population, 
after  the  conquest,  from  Aragon,  preserved  the  most  intimate 
relations  with  the  parent  kingdom,  and  was  constantly  at 
its  side  during  the  tempestuous  season  of  the  Union.  The 
Catalans  were  peculiarly  jealous  of  their  exclusive  privileges, 
and  their  civil  institutions  wore  a more  democratical  aspect 
than  those  of  any  other  of  the  confederated  states;  circum- 
stances, which  led  to  important  results  that  fall  within  the 
compass  of  our  narrative.69 

The  city  of  Barcelona,  which  originally  gave  its  name  to 
the  county  of  which  it  was  the  capital,  was  distinguished 
from  a very  early  period  by  ample  municipal  privileges.70 
After  the  union  with  Aragon  in  the  twelfth  century,  the 
monarchs  of  the  latter  kingdom  extended  toward  it  the  same 
liberal  legislation;  so  that,  by  the  thirteenth,  Barcelona  had 
reached  a degree  of  -commercial  prosperity  rivalling  that  of 
any  of  the  Italian  republics.  She  divided  with  them  the 
lucrative  commerce  with  Alexandria;  and  her  port,  thronged 
with  foreigners  from  every  nation,  became  a principal  empo- 
rium in  the  Mediterranean  for  the  spices,  drugs,  perfumes, 
and  other  rich  commodities  of  the  east,  whence  they  were 
diffused  over  the  interior  of  Spain  and  the  European  con- 
tinent.71 Her  consuls,  and  her  commercial  factories,  were 
established  in  every  considerable  port  in  the  Mediterranean 
and  in  the  north  of  Europe.72  The  natural  products  of  her 
soil,  and  her  various  domestic  fabrics,  supplied  her  with 
abundant  articles  of  export.  Fine  wool  was  imported  by  her 


ARAGON. 


61 

in  considerable  quantities  from  England  in  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries,  and  returned  there  manufactured 
into  cloth;  an  exchange  of  commodities  the  reverse  of  that 
existing  between  the  two  nations  at  the  present  day.73  Bar- 
celona claims  the  merit  of  having  established  the  first  bank 
of  exchange  and  deposit  in  Europe,  in  1401;  it  was  devoted 
to  the  accommodation  of  foreigners  as  well  as  of  her  own 
citizens.  She  claims  the  glory,  too,  of  having  compiled  the 
most  ancient  written  code,  among  the  moderns,  of  maritime 
law  now  extant,  digested  from  the  usages  of  commercial 
nations,  and  which  formed  the  basis  of  the  mercantile  juris- 
prudence of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages.74 

The  wealth  which  flowed  in  upon  Barcelona,  as  the  result 
of  her  activity  and  enterprise,  was  evinced  by  her  numerous 
public  works,  her  docks,  arsenal,  ware-houses,  exchange, 
hospitals,  and  other  constructions  of  general  utility.  Stran- 
gers, who  visited  Spain  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies, expiate  on  the  magnificence  of  this  city,  its  commo- 
dious private  edifices,  the  cleanliness  of  its  streets  and  public 
squares  (a  virtue  by  no  means  usual  in  that  day),  and  on 
the  amenity  of  its  gardens  and  cultivated  environs.75 

But  the  peculiar  glory  of  Barcelona  was  the  freedom  of 
her  municipal  institutions.  Her  government  consisted  of  a 
senate  or  council  of  one  hundred,  and  a body  of  regidores  or 
counsellors,  as  they  were  styled,  varying  at  times  from  four 
to  six  in  number;  the  former  intrusted  with  the  legislative, 
the  latter  with  the  executive  functions  of  admimistration.  A 
large  proportion  of  these  bodies  were  selected  from  the  mer- 
chants, tradesmen,  and  mechanics  of  the  city.  They  were 
invested,  not  merely  with  municipal  authority,  but  with 
many  of  the  rights  of  sovereignty.  They  entered  into  com- 
mercial treaties  with  foreign  powers;  superintended  the 
defence  of  the  city  in  time  of  war;  provided  for  the  security 
of  trade;  granted  letters  of  reprisal  against  any  nation  who 
might  violate  it;  and  raised  and  appropriated  the  public 
moneys  for  the  construction  of  useful  works,  or  the  encou> 
agement  of  such  commercial  adventures  as  were  too  hazard- 
ous or  expensive  for  individual  enterprise.67 

The  counsellors,  who  presided  over  the  municipality,  were 
complimented  with  certain  honorary  privileges,  not  even 
accorded  to  the  nobility.  They  were  addressed  by  the  title 
of  magmficos ; were  seated,  with  their  heads  covered,  in  the 
presence  of  royalty;  were  preceded  by  mace-bearers,  or  lictors, 
in  their  progress  through  the  country;  and  deputies  from 
their  body  to  the  courts  were  admitted  on  the  footing,  and 


6 2 


INTRODUCTION. 


received  the  honors,  of  foreign  ambassadors.77  These  it  will 
be  recollected,  were  plebeians, — merchants  and  mechanics. 
Trade  never  was  esteemed  a degradation  in  Catalonia,  as  it 
came  to  be  in  Castile.78  The  professors  of  the  different 
arts,  as  they  were  called,  organized  into  guilds  or  companies, 
constitued  so  many  independent  associations,  whose  mem- 
bers were  eligible  to  the  highest  municipal  officers.  And 
such  was  the  importance  attached  to  these  officers,  that  the 
nobility  in  many  instances,  resigning  the  privileges  of  their 
rank,  a necessary  preliminary,  were  desirous  of  being  enrolled 
among  the  candidates  for  them.79  One  cannot  but  observe 
in  the  peculiar  organization  of  this  little  commonwealth,  and 
in  the  equality  assumed  by  every  class  of  its'  citizens,  a 
close  analogy  to  the  constitutions  of  the  Italian  republics; 
which  the  Catalans,  having  become  familiar  with  in  their  in- 
timate commercial  intercourse  with  Italy,  may  have  adopted 
as  the  model  of  their  own. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  democratic  institutions,  the 
burghers  of  Barcelona,  and  indeed  of  Catalonia  in  general, 
which  enjoyed  more  or  less  of  a similar  freedom,  assumed  a 
haughty  independence  of  character  beyond  what  existed 
among  the  same  class  in  other  parts  of  Spain;  and  this,  com- 
bined with  the  martial  daring  fostered  by  a life  of  maritime 
adventure  and  warfare,  made  them  impatient,  not  merely 
of  oppression,  but  of  contradiction,  on  the  part  of  their 
sovereigns,  who  have  experienced  more  frequent  and  more 
sturdy  resistance  from  this  quarter  of  their  dominions,  than 
from  every  other.80  Navagiero,  the  Venetian  ambassador  to 
Spain,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  although  a repub- 
lican himself,  was  so  struck  with  what  he  deemed  the  in- 
subordination of  the  Barcelonians,  that  he  asserts,  “The 
inhabitants  have  so  many  privileges,  that  the  king  scarcely 
retains  any  authority  over  them;  their  liberty, ” he  adds, 
“should  rather  go  by  the  name  of  license/ * 81  One  example 
among  many,  may  be  given,  of  the  tenacity  with  which  they 
adhered  to  their  most  inconsiderable  immunities. 

Ferdinand  the  First,  in  1416,  being  desirous,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  exhausted  state  of  the  finances  on  his  coming 
to  the  throne,  to  evade  the  payment  of  a certain  tax  or  sub- 
sidy customarily  paid  by  the  kings  of  Aragon  to  the  city  of 
Barcelona,  sent  for  the  president  of  the  council,  John  Fivel- 
ler,  to  require  the  consent  of  that  body  to  this  measure. 
The  magistrate,  having  previously  advised  with  his  col- 
leagues, determined  to  encounter  any  hazard,  says  Zurita, 
rather  than  compromise  the  rights  of  the  city.  He  reminded 


ARAGON. 


^3 


the  king  of  his  coronation  oath,  expressed  his  regret  tnat  he 
was  willing  so  soon  to  deviate  from  the  good  usages  of  his 
predecessors,  and  plainly  told  him,  that  he  and  his  comrades 
would  never  betray  the  liberties  intrusted  to  them.  Ferdi- 
nand, indignant  at  this  language,  ordered  the  patriot  to 
withdraw  into  another  apartment,  where  he  remained  in 
much  uncertainty  as  to  the  consequences  of  his  temerity. 
But  the  king  was  dissuaded  from  violent  measures,  if  he 
ever  contemplated  them,  by  the  representation  of  his  court- 
iers, who  warned  him  not  to  reckon  too  much  on  the 
patience  of  the  people,  who  bore  small  affection  to  his 
person,  from  the  little  familiarity  with  which  he  had  treated 
them  in  comparison  with  their  preceding  monarchs,  and  who 
were  already  in  arms  to  protect  their  magistrate.  In  con- 
sequence of  these  suggestions,  Ferdinand  deemed  it  prudent 
to  release  the  counsellor,  and  withdrew  abruptly  from  the 
city  on  the  ensuing  day,  disgusted  at  the  ill  success  of  his 
enterprise.82 

The  Aragonese  monarchs  well  understood  the  value  of 
their  Catalan  dominions,  which  sustained  a proportion  of  the 
public  burdens  equal  in  amount  to  that  of  both  the  other 
states  of  the  kingdom.83  Notwithstanding  the  mortifications, 
which  they  occasionally  experienced  from  this  quarter,  there- 
fore, they  uniformly  extended  toward  it  the  most  liberal  pro- 
tection. A register  of  the  various  customs  paid  in  the  ports 
of  Catalonia,  compiled  in  1413,  under  the  above-mentioned 
Ferdinand,  exhibits  a discriminating  legislation,  extraordinary 
in  an  age  when  the  true  principles  of  financial  policy  were 
so  little  understood.84  Under  James  the  First,  in  1227,  a 
navigation  act,  limited  in  its  application,  was  published, 
another  under  Alfonso  the  Fifth,  in  1454,  embracing  all 
the  dominions  of  Aragon;  thus  preceding  by  some  centuries 
the  celebrated  ordinance,  to  which  England  owes  so  much 
of  her  commercial  grandeur.85 

The  brisk  concussion  given  to  the  minds  of  the  Catalans 
in  the  busy  career  in  which  they  were  engaged,  seems  to 
have  been  favorable  to  the  developement  of  poetical  talent, 
in  the  same  manner  as  it  was  in  Italy.  Catalonia  may  divide 
with  Provence,  the  glory  of  being  the  region,  where  the  voice 
of  song  was  first  awakened  in  modern  Europe.  Whatever 
may  be  the  relative  claims  of  the  two  countries  to  precedence 
in  this  respect,86  it  is  certain  that  under  the  family  of  Barce- 
lona, the  Proven£ale  ol  *.he  south  of  France  reached  its 
highest  perfection;  and,  when  the  tempest  of  persecution  in 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  fell  on  the  lovely 


64 


INTRODUCTION. 


valleys  of  that  unhappy  country,  its  minstrels  found  a hospi- 
table asylum  in  the  court  of  the  kings  of  Aragon;  many 
of  whom  not  only  protected,  but  cultivated  the  gay  science 
with  considerablde  success.87  Their  names  have  descended 
to  us,  as  well  as  those  of  less  illustrious  troubadours,  whom 
Petrarch  and  his  contemporaries  did  not  disdain  to  imitate;88 
but  their  compositions,  for  the  most  part,  lie  still  buried  in 
those  cemeteries  of  the  intellect  so  numerous  in  Spain,  and 
call  loudly  for  the  diligence  of  some  Sainte  Palaye  or  Ray- 
nouard  to  disinter  them.89 

The  languishing  condition  of  the  poetic  art,  at  the  close  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  induced  John  the  First,  who  mingled 
somewhat  of  the  ridiculous  even  with  his  most  respectable 
tastes,  to  depute  a solemn  embassy  to  the  king  of  France, 
requesting  that  a commision  might  be  detached  from  the 
Floral  Academy  of  Toulouse,  into  Spain,  to  erect  there  a 
similar  institution.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  the 
Consistory  of  Barcelona  was  organized,  in  1390  The  kings 
of  Aragon  endowed  it  with  funds,  and  with  a library  valua- 
ble for  that  day,  presiding  over  its  meetings  in  person,  and 
distributing  the  poetical  premiums  with  their  own  hands. 
During  the  troubles  consequent  on  the  death  of  Martin,  this 
establishment  fell  into  decay,  until  it  was  again  revived,  on 
the  accession  of  Ferdinand  the  First,  by  the  celebrated 
Henry,  marquis  of  Villena,  who  transplanted  it  to  Tortosa.90 

The  marquis,  in  his  treatise  on  the  gaya  sciencia , details 
with  becoming  gravity  the  pompous  ceremonial  observed  in 
his  academy  on  the  event  of  a public  celebration.  The 
topics  of  discussion  were  ‘‘the  praises  of  the  Virgin,  love, 
arms,  and  other  good  usages/ 1 The  performances  of  the 
candidates,  “ inscribed  on  parchment  of  various  colors, 
richly  enamelled  with  gold  and  silver,  and  beautifully  illu- 
minated,” were  publicly  recited,  and  then  referred  to  a 
committee,  who  made  solemn  oath  to  decide  impartially  and 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  art.  On  the  delivery  of  the 
verdict,  a wreath  of  gold  was  deposited  on  the  victorious 
poem,  which  was  registered  in  the  academic  archives;  and 
the  fortunate  troubadour,  greeted  with  a magnificent  prize, 
was  escorted  to  the  royal  palace  amid  a cortege  minstrelsy 
and  chivalry;  “thus  manifesting  to  the  world,’ * says  the 
marquis,  “the  superiority  which  God  and  nature  have  as- 
signed to  genius  over  dullness.”  91 

The  influence  of  such  an  institution  in  awakening  a poetic 
spirit  is  at  best  very  questionable.  Whatever  effect  an  acad- 


ARAGON.  65 

emy  may  have  in  stimulating  the  researches  of  science,  the 
inspirations  of  genius  must  come  unbidden; 

“Adflata  est  numine  quando 
Jam  propiore  dei.” 

The  Catalans,  indeed,  seem  to  have  been  of  this  opinion; 
for  they  suffered  the  Consistory  of  Tortosa  to  expire  with 
its  founder.  Somewhat  later,  in  1430,  was  established  the 
University  of  Barcelona,  placed  under  the  direction  of  the 
municipality,  and  endowed  by  the  city  with  ample  funds  for 
instruction  in  the  various  departments  of  law,  theology, 
medicine,  and  the  belles-lettres.  This  institution  survived 
until  the  commencement  of  the  last  century.92 

During  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  long  after  the 
genuine  race  of  the  troubadours  had  passed  away,  the  Pro- 
vencal Limousin  verse  was  carried  to  its  highest  excellence 
by  the  poets  of  Valencia.93  It  would  be  presumptuous  for 
iny  one,  who  has  not  made  the  romance  dialects  his  particular 
Uudy,  to  attempt  a discriminating  criticism  of  these  compo- 
sitions, so  much  of  the  merit  of  which  necessarily  consists  in 
the  almost  impalpable  beauties  of  style  and  expression.  The 
Spaniards,  however,  applaud,  in  the  verses  of  Ausias  March, 
the  same  musical  combinations  of  sound,  and  the  same  tone 
of  moral  melancholy,  which  pervade  the  productions  of 
Petrarch.94  In  prose  too,  they  have  (to  borrow  the  words  of 
Andres)  their  Boccacio  in  Martorell;  whose  fiction  of  “Ti- 
rante  el  Blanco”  is  honored  by  the  commendation  of  the 
curate  in  Don  Quixote,  as  “the  best  book  in  the  world  of 
the  kind,  since  the  knights-errant  in  it  eat,  drink,  sleep,  and 
die  quietly  in  their  beds,  like  other  folk,  and  very  unlike 
most  heroes  of  romance.”  The  productions  of  these,  and 
some  other  of  their  distinguished  contemporaries,  obtained  a 
general  circulation  very  early  by  means  of  the  recently  in- 
vented art  of  printing,  and  subsequently  passed  into  repeated 
editions.96  But  their  language  has  long  since  ceased  to  be 
the  language  of  literature.  On  the  union  of  the  two  crowns 
of  Castile  and  Aragon,  the  dialect  of  the  former  became 
that  of  the  court  and  of  the  Muses.  The  beautiful  Proven- 
<pale,  once  more  rich  and  melodious  than  any  other  idiom  in 
the  Peninsula,  was  abandoned  as  a patois  to  the  lower  orders 
of  the  Catalans,  who,  with  the  language,  may  boast  that  they 
also  have  inherited  the  noble  principles  of  freedom,  which 
distinguished  their  ancestors. 


66 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  influence  of  free  institutions  in  Aragon  is  perceptible  in  the  fami- 
liarity displayed  by  its  writers  with  public  affairs,  and  in  the  freedom  with 
which  they  have  discussed  the  organization,  and  general  economy  of  its 
government.  The  creation  of  the  office  of  national  chronicler,  under 
Charles  V. , gave  wider  scope  to  the  development  of  historic  talent.  Among 
the  most  conspicuous  of  these  historiographers  was  Jerome  Blancas,  several 
of  whose  productions,  as  the  “ Coronaciones  de  los  Reyes,”  “ Modo  de 
Proceder  en  Cortes,”  and  “ Commentarii  Rerum  Aragonensium,”  especially 
the  last,  have  been  repeatedly  quoted  in  the  preceding  section.  This  work 
presents  a view  of  the  different  orders  of  the  state,  and  particularly  of  the 
office  of  the  Justicia,  with  their  peculiar  functions  and  privileges.  The 
author,  omitting  the  usual  details  of  history,  has  devoted  himself  to  the 
illustration  of  the  constitutional  antiquities  of  his  country,  in  the  execution 
of  which  he  has  shown  a sagacity  and  erudition  equally  profound.  His 
sentiments  breathe  a generous  love  of  freedom,  which  one  would  scarcely 
suppose  to  have  existed,  and  still  less  to  have  been  promulgated,  under 
Philip  II.  His  style  is  distinguished  by  the  purity  and  even  elegance  of 
its  latinity.  The  first  edition,  being  that  which  I have  used,  appeared  in 
1588,  in  folio  at  Saragossa,  executed  with  much  typographical  beauty.  The 
work  was  afterward  incorporated  into  Schottus’s  “ Hispania  Illustrata.” — 
Blancas,  after  having  held  his  office  for  ten  years,  died  in  his  native  city  of 
Saragossa,  in  1590. 

Jerome  Martel,  from  whose  little  treatise,  “Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes,” 
I have  also  liberally  cited,  was  appointed  public  historiographer  in  1597. 
His  continuation  of  Zurita’s  Annals,  which  he  left  unpublished  at  his  de- 
cease, was  never  admitted  to  the  honors  of  the  press,  because,  says  his 
biographer,  Uztarroz,  verdades  lastiman;  a reason  as  creditable  to  the  author, 
as  disgraceful  to  the  government. 

A third  writer,  and  the  one  chiefly  relied  on  for  the  account  of  Catalonia, 
is  Don  Antonio  Capmany.  His  “ Memorias  Historicas  de  Barcelona”  (5 
tom.  4to.  Madrid,  1779-1792),  may  be  thought  somewhat  too  discursive  and 
circumstantial  for  this  subject;  but  it  is  hardly  right  to  quarrel  with  infor- 
mation so  rare,  and  painfully  collected;  the  sin  of  exuberance  at  any  rate  is 
much  less  frequent,  and  more  easily  corrected,  than  that  of  sterility.  His 
work  is  a vast  repertory  of  facts  relating  to  the  commerce,  manufactures, 
general  policy,  and  public  prosperity,  not  only  of  Barcelona,  but  of  Cata- 
lonia. It  is  written  with  an  independent  and  liberal  spirit,  which  may  be 
regarded  as  affording  the  best  commentary  on  the  genius  of  the  institutions 
which  he  celebrates. — Capmany  closed  his  useful  labors  at  Madrid,  in  1810, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-six. 

Notwithstanding  the  interesting  character  of  the  Aragonese  constitution, 
and  the  amplitude  of  materials  for  its  history,  the  subject  has  been  hitherto 
neglected,  as  far  as  I am  aware,  by  continental  writers.  Robertson  and 
Hallam,  more  especially  the  latter,  have  given  such  a view  of  its  prominent 
features  to  the  English  reader,  as  must,  I fear,  deprive  the  sketch  which  I 
have  attempted,  in  a great  degree,  of  novelty.  To  these  names  must  now 
be  added  that  of  the  author  of  the  “History  of  Spain  and  Portugal” 
(Cabinet  Cyclopaedia),  whose  work,  published  since  the  preceding  pages 
were  written,  contains  much  curious  and  learned  disquisition  on  the  early 
jurisprudence  and  municipal  institutions  of  both  Castile  and  Aragon. 


GENEALOGY  OP  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


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of  Castile,  Alfonso,  Isabella  Carlos,  Blanche.  Leonora,  the  Catholic, 

d#  1474.  d.  1468.  the  Catholic.  d.  1461. 


PART  FIRST. 

1406-1492. 


The  period  when  the  different  kingdoms  of  Spain  were  first 

UNITED  UNDER  ONE  MONARCHY,  AND  A THOROUGH  REFORM  WAS 
INTRODUCED  INTO  THEIR  INTERNAL  ADMINISTRATION  ; OR  THE 
PERIOD  EXHIBITING  MOST  FULLY  THE  DOMESTIC  POLICY  OF  FER- 
DINAND and  Isabella. 


PART  FIRST. 


CHAPTER  I 

STATE  OF  CASTILE  AT  THE  BIRTH  OF  ISABELLA — REIGN  OF 
JOHN  II.,  OF  CASTILE. 

1406—1454. 

Revolution  of  Trastamara. — Accession  of  John  II. — Rise  of  Alvaro  de 
Luna. — Jealousy  of  the  Nobles. — -Oppression  of  the  Commons. — Its 
Consequences. — Early  Literature  of  Castile. — Its  Encouragement 
under  John  II. — Decline  of  Alvaro  de  Luna. — His  Fall. — Death  of 
John  II. — Birth  of  Isabella. 

The  fierce  civil  feuds  which  preceded  the  accession  of  the 
House  of  Trastamara  in  1368,  were  as  fatal  to  the  nobility 
of  Castile,  as  the  wars  of  the  Roses  were  to  that  of  England. 
There  was  scarcely  a family  of  note,  which  had  not  poured 
out  its  blood  on  the  field  or  the  scaffold.  The  influence  of 
the  aristocracy  was,  of  course,  much  diminished  with  its 
numbers.  The  long  wars  with  foreign  powers,  which  a dis- 
puted succession  entailed  on  the  country,  were  almost  equally 
prejudicial  to  the  authority  of  the  monarch,  who  was  willing 
to  buoy  up  his  tottering  title  by  the  most  liberal  concession 
of  privileges  to  the  people.  Thus  the  commons  rose  in  pro- 
portion as  the  crown  and  the  privileged  orders  descended  in 
the  scale;  and,  when  the  claims  of  the  several  competitors  for 
the  throne  were  finally  extinguished,  and  the  tranquillity  of 
the  kingdom  was  secured,  by  the  union  of  Henry  the  Third 
with  Catharine  of  Lancaster  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  the  third  estate  may  be  said  to  have  attained  to  the 
highest  degree  of  political  consequence,  which  it  ever  reached 
in  Castile. 

The  healthful  action  of  the  body  politic,  during  the  long 
interval  of  peace  that  followed  this  auspicious  union,  enabled 
it  to  repair  the  strength,  which  had  been  wasted  in  its  mur- 
derous civil  contests.  The  ancient  channels  of  commerce 


72 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  CASTILE. 


were  again  opened;  various  new  manufactures  were  intro- 
duced, and  carried  to  a considerable  perfection;1  wealth,  with 
its  usual  concomitants,  elegance  and  comfort,  flowed  in  apace; 
and  the  nation  promised  itself  a long  career  of  prosperity 
under  a monarch,  who  respected  the  laws  in  his  own  person, 
and  administered  them  with  vigor.  All  these  fair  hopes  were 
blasted  by  the  premature  death  of  Henry  the  Third,  before 
he  had  reached  his  twenty-eighth  year.  The  crown  devolved 
on  his  son  John  the  Second,  then  a minor,  whose  reign  was 
one  of  the  longest  and  the  most  disastrous  in  the  Castilian 
annals.2  As  it  was  that,  however,  which  gave  birth  to 
Isabella,  the  illustrious  subject  of  our  narrative,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  pass  its  principal  features  under  review,  in  order 
to  obtain  a correct  idea  of  her  government. 

The  wise  administration  of  the  regency,  during  a long 
minority,  postponed  the  season  of  calamity;  and,  when  it  at 
length  arrived,  it  was  concealed  for  some  time  from  the  eyes 
of  the  vulgar  by  the  pomp  and  brilliant  festivities,  which 
distinguished  the  court  of  the  young  monarch.  His  indis- 
position, if  not  incapacity  for  business,  however,  gradually 
became  manifest;  and,  while  he  resigned  himself  without 
reserve  to  pleasures,  which  it  must  be  confessed  were  not 
unfrequently  of  a refined  and  intellectual  character,  he 
abandoned  the  government  of  his  kingdom  to  the  control  of 
favorites. 

The  most  conspicuous  of  these  was  Alvaro  de  Luna,  grand 
master  of  St.  James,  and  constable  of  Castile.  This  remark- 
able person,  the  illegitimate  descendant  of  a noble  house  in 
Aragon,  was  introduced  very  early  as  a page  into  the  royal 
household,  where  he  soon  distinguished  himself  by  his  amia- 
ble manners  and  personal  accomplishments.  He  could  ride, 
fence,  dance,  sing,  if  we  may  credit  his  loyal  biographer, 
better  than  any  other  cavalier  in  the  court;  while  his  pro- 
ficiency in  music  and  poetry  recommended  him  most  effec- 
tually to  the  favor  of  the  monarch,  who  professed  to  be  a 
connoisseur  in  both.  With  these  showy  qualities,  Alvaro  de 
Luna  united  others  of  a more  dangerous  complexion.  His 
insinuating  address  easily  conciliated  confidence,  and  en- 
abled him  to  master  the  motives  of  others,  while  his  own 
were  masked  by  consummate  dissimulation.  He  was  as  fear- 
less in  executing  his  ambitious  schemes,  as  he  was  cautious. in 
devising  them.  He  was  indefatigable  in  his  application  to 
business,  so  that  John,  whose  aversion  to  it  we  have  noticed, 
willingly  reposed  on  him  the  whole  burden  of  government. 
The  king,  it  was  said,  only  signed,  while  the  constable  die- 


BIRTH  OF  ISABELLA. 


73 


tated  and  executed.  He  was  only  the  channel  of  promotion 
to  public  office,  whether  secular  or  ecclesiastical.  As  his 
cupidity  was  insatiable,  he  perverted  the  great  trust  confided 
to  him  to  the  acquisition  of  the  principal  posts  in  the  govern- 
ment for  himself  or  his  kindred,  and  at  his  death  is  said  to 
have  left  a larger  amount  of  treasure,  than  was  possessed  by 
the  whole  nobility  of  the  kingdom.  He  affected  a magnifi- 
cence of  state  corresponding  with  his  elevated  rank.  The 
most  considerable  grandees  in  Castile  contended  for  the 
honor  of  having  their  sons,  after  the  fashion  of  the  time, 
educated  in  his  family.  When  he  rode  abroad,  he  was  ac- 
companied by  a numerous  retinue  of  knights  and  nobles, 
which  left  his  sovereign’s  court  comparatively  deserted;  so  that 
royalty  might  be  said  on  all  ocasions,  whether  of  business  or 
pleasure,  to  be  eclipsed  by  the  superior  splendors  of  its 
satellite.8  The  history  of  this  man  may  remind  the  English 
reader  of  that  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  whom  he  somewhat  re- 
sembled in  character,  and  still  more  in  his  extraordinary 
fortunes. 

It  may  easily  be  believed,  that  the  haughty  aristocracy  of 
Castile  would  ill  brook  this  exaltation  of  an  individual  so 
inferior  to  them  in  birth,  and  who  withal  did  not  wear  his  hon- 
ors with  exemplary  meekness.  John’s  blind  partiality  for  his 
favorite  is  the  key  to  all  the  troubles  which  agitated  the 
kingdom  during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  reign.  The  dis- 
gusted nobles  organized  confederacies  for  the  purpose  of 
deposing  the  minister.  The  whole  nation  took  sides  in  this 
unhappy  struggle.  The  heats  of  civil  discord  were  still 
further  heightened  by  the  interference  of  the  royal  house  of 
Aragon,  which,  descended  from  a common  stock  with  that 
of  Castile,  was  proprietor  of  large  estates  in  the  latter  coun- 
try. The  wretched  monarch  beheld  even  his  own  son 
Henry,  the  heir  to  the  crown,  enlisted  in  the  opposite  fac- 
tion., and  saw  himself  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  shedding 
the  blood  of  his  subjects  in  the  fatal  battle  of  Olmedo.  Still 
the  address,  or  the  good  fortune,  of  the  constable  enabled 
him  to  triumph  over  his  enemies;  and,  although  he  was 
obliged  occasionally  to  yield  to  the  violence  of  the  storm  and 
withdraw  a while  from  the  court,  he  was  soon  recalled  and 
reinstated  in  all  his  former  dignities.  This  melancholy  in- 
fatuation of  the  king  is  imputed  by  the  writers  of  that  age  to 
sorcery  on  the  part  of  the  favorite.4  But  the  only  witchcraft 
which  he  used,  was  the  ascendency  of  a strong  mind  over  a 
weak  one. 

During  this  long-protracted  anarchy,  the  people  lost  what- 
Vol.  I.— 4. 


74 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  CASTILE. 


ever  they  had  gained  in  the  two  preceding  reigns.  By  the 
advice  of  his  minister,  who  seems  to  have  possessed  a full 
measure  of  the  insolence,  so  usual  with  persons  suddenly 
advanced  from  low  to  elevated  station,  the  king  not  only 
abandoned  the  constitutional  policy  of  his  predecessors  in 
regard  to  the  commons,  but  entered  on  the  most  arbitrary 
and  systematic  violation  of  their  rights.  Their  deputies 
were  excluded  from  the  privy  council,  or  lost  all  influence  in 
it.  Attempts  were  made  to  impose  taxes  without  the  legis- 
lative sanction.  The  municipal  territories  were  alienated,  and 
lavished  on  the  royal  minions.  The  freedom  of  elections 
was  invaded,  and  delegates  to  cortes  were  frequently  nomi- 
nated by  the  crown;  and,  to  complete  the  iniquitous  scheme 
of  oppression,  pragmaticas , or  royal  proclamations,  were 
issued,  containing  provisions  repugnant  to  the  acknowledged 
law  of  the  land,  and  affirming  in  the  most  unqualified 
terms  the  right  of  the  sovereign  to  legislate  for  his  sbujects.6 
The  commons  indeed,  when  assembled  in  cortes,  stoutly  re- 
sisted the  assumption  of  such  unconstitutional  powers  by  the 
crown,  and  compelled  the  prince  not  only  to  revoke  his  pre- 
tentions, but  to  accompany  his  revocation  with  the  most 
humiliating  concessions.6  They  even  ventured  so  far,  dur- 
ing this  reign,  as  to  regulate  the  expenses  of  the  royal 
household;7  and  their  language  to  the  throne  on  all  these 
occasions,  though  temperate  and  loyal,  breathed  a generous 
spirit  of  patriotism,  evincing  a perfect  consciousness  of  their 
own  rights,  and  a steady  determination  to  maintain  them.8 

Alas!  what  could  such  resolution  avail,  in  this  season  of 
misrule,  against  the  intrigues  of  a cunning  and  profligate 
minister,  unsupported  too,  as  the  commons  were,  by  any 
sympathy  or  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the  higher  orders  of 
the  state!  A scheme  was  devised  for  bringing  the  popular 
branch  of  the  legislature  more  effectually  within  the  control 
of  the  crown,  by  diminishing  the  number  of  its  constituents. 
It  has  been  already  remarked,  in  the  Introduction,  that  a 
great  irregularity  prevailed  in  Castile  as  to  the  number  of 
cities,  which,  at  different  times,  exercised  the  right  of  repre- 
sentation. During  the  fourteenth  century,  the  deputation 
from  this  order  had  been  uncommonly  full.  The  king,  how- 
ever, availing  himself  of  this  indeterminateness,  caused  writs 
to  be  issued  to  a very  small  proportion  of  the  towns  which 
had  usually  enjoyed  the  privilege.  Some  of  those  that  were 
excluded,  indignantly  though  ineffectually  remonstrated 
against  this  abuse.  Others,  previously  despoiled  of  their 
possessions  by  the  rapacity  of  the  crown,  or  impoverished  by 


BIRTH  OF  ISABELLA. 


75 


the  disastrous  feuds  into  which  the  country  had  been  thrown, 
acquiesced  in  the  measure  from  motives  of  economy.  From 
the  same  mistaken  policy  several  cities,  again,  as  Burgos, 
Toledo,  and  others,  petitioned  the  sovereign  to  defray  the 
charges  of  their  representatives  from  the  royal  treasury;  a 
most  ill-advised  parsimony,  which  suggested  to  the  crown  a 
plausible  pretext  for  the  new  system  of  exclusion.  In  this 
manner  the  Castilian  cortes,  which,  notwithstanding  its  occa- 
sional fluctuations, had  exhibited  during  the  perceding  century 
what  might  be  regarded  as  a representation  of  the  whole 
commonwealth,  was  gradually  reduced,  during  the  reigns  of 
John  the  Second  and  his  son  Henry  the  Fourth,  to  the 
deputations  of  some  seventeen  or  eighteen  cities.  And  to 
this  number,  with  slight  variation,  it  has  been  restricted 
until  the  occurrence  of  the  recent  revolutionary  movements 
in  that  kingdom.9 

The  non-represented  were  required  to  transmit  their  in- 
structions to  the  deputies  of  the  privileged'  cities.  Thus 
Salamanca  appeared  in  behalf  of  five  hundred  towns  and 
fourteen  hundred  villages;  and  the  populous  province  of 
Galicia  was  represented  by  the  little  town  of  Zamora,  which 
is  not  even  included  within  its  geographical  limits.10  The  priv- 
ilege of  a voice  in  cortes , as  it  was  called,  came  at  length  to  be 
prized  so  highly  by  the  favored  cities,  that  when,  in  1506, 
some  of  those  who  were  excluded  solicited  the  restitution  of 
their  ancient  rights,  their  petition  was  opposed  by  the  former 
on  impudent  pretence,  that  “the  right  of  deputation  had  been 
reserved  by  ancient  law  and  usuage  to  only  eighteen  cities 
of  the  realm.”11  In  this  short-sighted  and  most  unhappy 
policy,  we  see  the  operation  of  those  local  jealousies  and 
estrangements,  to  which  we  have  alluded  in  the  Introduc- 
tion. But,  although  the  cortes,  thus  reduced  in  numbers, 
necessarily  lost  much  of  its  weight,  it  still  maintained  a 
bold  front  against  the  usurpations  of  the  crown.  It  does 
not  appear,  indeed,  that  any  attempt  was  made  under  John 
the  Second,  or  his  successor,  to  corrupt  its  members,  or  to 
control  the  freedom  of  debate;  although  such  a proceeding 
is  not  improbable,  as  altogether  conformable  to  their  ordinary 
policy,  and  as  the  natural  result  of  their  preliminary  measures. 
But,  however  true  the  deputies  continued  to  themselves  and 
to  those  who  sent  them,  it  is  evident  that  so  limited  and  par- 
tial a selection  no  longer  afforded  a representation  of  the 
interests  of  the  whole  country.  Their  necessarily  imperfect 
acquaintance  with  the  principles  or  even  wishes  of  their 
widely  scattered  constituents,  in  an  age  when  knowledge  was 


76 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  CASTILE. 


not  circulated  on  the  thousand  wings  of  the  press,  as  in  our 
day,  must  have  left  them  oftentimes  in  painful  uncertainty, 
and  deprived  them  of  the  cheering  support  of  public  opinion. 
The  voice  of  remonstrance,  which  derives  such  confidence 
from  numbers,  would  hardly  now  be  raised  in  their  deserted 
halls  with  the  same  frequency  or  energy  as  before;  and, 
however  the  representatives  of  that  day  might  maintain  their 
integrity  uncorrupted,  yet,  as  every  facility  was  afforded  to 
the  undue  influence  of  the  crown,  the  time  might  come  when 
venality  would  prove  stronger  than  principle,  and  the  un- 
worthy patriot  be  tempted  to  sacrifice  his  birthright  for  a 
mess  of  pottage.  Thus  early  was  the  fair  dawn  of  freedom 
overcast,  which  opened  in  Castile  under  more  brilliant  aus- 
pices, perhaps,  than  in  any  other  country  in  Europe. 

While  the  reign  of  John  the  Second  is  so  deservedly 
odious  in  a political  view,  in  a literary,  it  may  be  inscribed 
with  what  Giovio  calls  “the  golden  pen  of  history.’ * It  was 
an  epoch  in  the  Castilian,  corresponding  with  that  of  the 
reign  of  Francis  the  First  in  French  literature,  distinguished 
not  so  much  by  any  production  of  extraordinary  genius,  as 
by  the  effort  made  for  the  introduction  of  an  elegant  culture, 
by  conducting  it  on  more  scientific  principles  than  had  been 
hitherto  known.  The  early  literature  of  Castile  could  boast 
of  the  “Poem  of  the  Cid,”  in  some  respects  the  most  re- 
markable performance  of  the  middle  ages.  It  was  enriched, 
moreover,  with  other  elaborate  compositions,  displaying 
occasional  glimpses  of  a buoyant  fancy,  or  of  sensibility  to 
external  beauty,  to  say  nothing  of  those  delightful  romantic 
ballads,  which  seemed  to  spring  up  spontaneously  in  every 
quarter  of  the  country,  like  the  natural  wild  flowers,  of  the 
soil.  But  the  unaffected  beauties  of  sentiment,  which  seem 
rather  the  result  of  accident  than  design,  were  dearly  pur- 
chased, in  the  more  extended  pieces,  at  the  expense  of  such 
a crude  mass  of  grotesque  and  undigested  verse,  as  shows  an 
entire  ignorance  of  the  principles  of  the  art.12 

The  profession  of  letters  itself  was  held  in  little  repute  by 
the  higher  orders  of  the  nation,  who  were  altogether  untinc- 
tured with  liberal  learning.  While  the  nobles  of  the  sister 
kingdom  of  Aragon,  assembled  in  their  poetic  courts,  in 
imitation  of  their  Provengale  neighbors,  vied  with  each  other 
in  lays  of  love  and  chivalry,  those  of  Castile  disdained  these 
effeminate  pleasures  as  unworthy  of  the  profession  of  arms, 
the  only  one  of  any  estimation  in  their  eyes.  The  benignant 
influence  of  John  was  perceptible  in  softening  this  ferocious 
temper.  He  was  himself  sufficiently  accomplished,  for  a 


BIRTH  OF  ISABELLA. 


77 


king;  and,  notwithstanding  his  aversion  to  business,  manb 
fested,  as  has  been  noticed,  a lively  relish  for  intellectual 
enjoyment.  He  was  fond  of  books,  wrote  and  spoke  Latin 
with  facility,  composed  verses,  and  condescended  occa- 
sionally to  correct  those  of  his  loving  subjects.13  Whatever 
might  be  the  value  of  his  criticisms,  that  of  his  example 
cannot  be  doubted.  The  courtiers,  with  the  quick  scent  for 
their  own  interest  which  distinguishes  the  tribe  in  every 
country,  soon  turned  their  attention  to  the  same  polite 
studies;14  and  thus  Castilian  poetry  received  very  early  the 
courtly  stamp,  which  continued  its  prominent  characteristic 
down  to  the  age  of  its  meridian  glory. 

Among  the  most  eminent  of  these  noble  savans , was  Henry, 
marquis  of  Villena,  descended  from  the  royal  houses  of  Cas- 
tile and  Aragon,15  but  more  illustrious,  as  one  of  his  country- 
men has  observed,  by  his  talents  and  attainments,  than  by 
his  birth.  His  whole  life  was  consecrated  to  letters,  and 
especially  to  the  study  of  natural  science.  I am  not  aware 
that  any  specimen  of  his  poetry,  although  much  lauded  by 
his  contemporaries,16  has  come  down  to  us.17  He  translated 
Dante’s  “Commedia”  into  prose,  and  is  said  to  have  given 
the  first  example  of  a version  of  the  /Eneid  into  a modern 
language.18  He  labored  assiduously  to  introduce  a more 
cultivated  taste  among  his  countrymen,  and  his  little  treatise 
on  the  gay  a sciencia,  as  the  divine  art  was  then  called,  in 
which  he  gives  an  historical  and  critical  view  of  the  poetical 
Consistory  of  Barcelona,  is  the  first  approximation,  however 
faint,  to  an  Art  of  Poetry  in  the  Castilian  tongue.19  The 
exclusiveness,  with  which  he  devoted  himself  to  science,  and 
especially  astronomy,  to  the  utter  neglect  of  his  temporal 
concerns,  led  the  wits  of  that  day  to  remark,  that  “he  knew 
much  of  heaven,  and  nothing  of  earth/ ’ He  paid  the  usual 
penalty  of  such  indifference  to  worldly  weal,  by  seeing  him- 
self eventually  stripped  of  his  lordly  possessions,  and  reduced, 
at  the  close  of  life,  to  extreme  poverty.20  His  secluded 
habits  brought  on  him  the  appalling  imputation  of  necro- 
mancy. A scene  took  place  at  his  death,  in  1434,  which  is 
sufficiently  characteristic  of  the  age,  and  may  possibly  have 
suggested  a similar  adventure  to  Cervantes.  The  king  com- 
missoned  his  son’s  preceptor,  Brother  Lope  de  Barrientos, 
afterwards  bishop  of  Cuenga,  to  examine  the  valuable  library 
of  the  deceased;  and  the  worthy  ecclesiastic  consigned  more 
than  a hundred  volumes  of  it  to  the  flames,  as  savouring  too 
strongly  of  the  black  art.  The  Bachelor  Cibdareal,  the 
confidential  physician  of  John  the  Second,  in  a lively  letter 


78 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  CASTILE. 


on  this  occurence  to  the  poet  John  de  Mena,  remarks,  that 
“some  would  fain  get  the  reputation  of  saints,  by  making 
others  necromancers;”  and  requests  his  friend  “to-  allow 
him  to  solicit,  in  his  behalf,  some  of  the  surviving  volumes 
from  the  king,  that  in  this  way  the  soul  of  Brother  Lope 
might  be  saved  from  further  sin,  and  the  spirit  of  the  de- 
funct marquis  consoled  by  the  consciousness,  that  his  books 
no  longer  rested  on  the  shelves  of  the  man  who  had  con- 
verted him  into  a conjuror.”  21  John  de  Mena  denounces 
this  auto  da  fe  of  science  in  a similar,  but  graver  tone  of  sar- 
casm, in  his  “Laberinto.”  These  liberal  sentiments  in  the 
Spanish  writers  of  the  fifteenth  century  may  put  to  shame 
the  more  bigoted  criticism  of  the  seventeenth.22 

Another  of  the  illustrious  wits  of  this  reign  was  Inigo 
Lopez  de  Mendoza,  marquis  of  Santillana,  “the  glory  and 
delight  of  the  Castilian  nobility,”  whose  celebrity  was  such, 
that  foreigners,  it  was  said,  journeyed  to  Spain  from  distant 
parts  of  Europe  to  see  him.  Although  passionately  devoted 
to  letters,  he  did  not,  like  his  friend  the  marquis  of  Villena, 
neglect  his  public  or  domestic  duties  for  them.  On  the 
contrary,  he  discharged  the  most  important  civil  and  military 
functions.  He  made  his  house  an  academy,  in  which  the 
young  cavaliers  of  the  court  might  practise  the  martial  exer- 
cises of  the  age;  and  he  assembled  around  him  at  the  same 
time  men  eminent  for  genius  and  science,  whom  he  munifi- 
cently recompensed,  and  encouraged  by  his  example.23  His 
own  taste  led  him  to  poetry,  of  which  he  has  left  some  elabo- 
rate specimens.  They  are  chiefly  of  a moral  and  preceptive 
character;  but,  although  replete  with  noble  sentiment,  and 
finished  in  a style  of  literary  excellence  far  more  correct 
than  that  of  the  preceding  age,  they  are  too  much  infected 
with  mythology  and  metaphorical  affectations,  to  suit  the 
palate  of  the  present  day.  He  possessed,  however,  the  soul 
of  a poet;  and  when  he  abandons  himself  to  his  native  redon- 
ditlas , delivers  his  sentiments  with  a sweetness  and  grace 
inimitable.  To  him  is  to  be  ascribed  the  glory,  such  as  it 
is,  of  having  naturalized  the  Italian  sonnet  in  Castile,  which 
Boscan,  many  years  later,  claimed  for  himself  with  no  small 
degree  of  self-congratulation.24  His  epistle  on  the  primitive 
history  of  Spanish  verse,  although  containing  notices  suffi- 
ciently curious  from  the  age  and  the  source  whence  they 
proceed,  has  perhaps  done  more  service  to  letters  by  the 
valuable  illustrations  it  has  called  forth  from  its  learned 
editor.26 

This  great  man,  who  found  so  much  leisure  for  the  cultb 


BIRTH  OF  ISABELLA. 


79 


vation  of  letters  amidst  the  busy  strife  of  politics,  closed  his 
career  at  the  age  of  sixty,  in  1458.  Though  a conspicuous 
actor  in  the  revolutionary  scenes  of  the  period,  he  maintained 
a character  for  honor  and  purity  of  motive^,  unimpeached 
even  by  his  enemies.  The  king,  notwithstanding  his  devo- 
tion to  the  faction  of  his  son  Henry,  conferred  on  him  the 
dignities  of  count  of  Real  de  Manzanares  and  marquis  of 
Santillana;  this  being  the  oldest  creation  of  a marquis  in 
Castile,  with  the  exception  of  Villena.26  His  eldest  son  was 
subsequently  made  duke  of  Infantado,  by  which  title  his 
descendants  have  continued  to  be  distinguished  to  the  pre- 
sent day. 

But  the  most  conspicuous,  for  his  poetical  talents,  of  the 
brilliant  circle  which  graced  the  court  of  John  the  Second, 
was  John  de  Mena,  a native  of  fair  Cordova,  “ the  flower  of 
science  and  of  chivalry,”  27  as  he  fondly  styles  her.  Although 
born  in  a middling  condition  of  life,  with  humble  prospects, 
he  was  early  smitten  with  a love  of  letters;  and,  after  passing 
through  the  usual  course  of  discipline  at  Salamanca,  he  re- 
paired to  Rome,  where  in  the  study  of  those  immortal  mas- 
ters, whose  writings  had  but  recently  revealed  the  full  capa- 
cities of  a modern  idiom,  he  imbibed  principles  of  taste, 
which  gave  a direction  to  his  own  genius,  and,  in  some 
degree,  to  that  of  his  countrymen.  On  his  return  to  Spain, 
his  literary  merit  soon  attracted  general  admiration,  and  in- 
troduced him  to  the  patronage  of  the  great,  and  above  all  to 
the  friendship  of  the  marquis  of  Santillana.28  He  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  private  circle  of  the  monarch,  who,  as  his 
gossiping  physician  informs  us,  ‘‘used  to  have  Mena’s  verses 
lying  on  his  table,  as  constantly  as  his  prayer-book.”  The 
poet  repaid  the  debt  of  gratitude  by  administering  a due 
quantity  of  honeyed  rhyme,  for  which  the  royal  palate  seems 
to  have  possessed  a more  than  ordinary  relish.29  He  con- 
tinued faithful  to  his  master  amidst  all  the  fluctuations  of 
faction,  and  survived  him  less  than  two  years.  He  died  in 
1456;  and  his  friend,  the  marquis  of  Santillana,  raised  a 
sumptuous  monument  over  his  remains,  in  commemoration 
of  his  virtues  and  of  their  mutual  affection. 

John  de  Mena  is  affirmed  by  some  of  the  national  critics 
to  have  given  a new  aspect  to  Castilian  poetry.80  His  great 
work  was  his  “Laberinto,”  the  outlines  of  whose  plan  may 
faintly  remind  us  of  that  portion  of  the  ‘‘Divina  Commedia,  ” 
where  Dante  resigns  himself  to  the  guidance  of  Beatrice. 
In  like  manner  the  Spanish  poet,  under  the  escort  of  a beau- 
tiful personification  of  Providence,  witnesses  the  apparition 


80  REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  CASTILE. 

of  the  most  eminent  individuals,  whether  of  history  or  fable; 
and,  as  they  revolve  on  the  wheel  of  destiny,  they  give  occa- 
sion to  some  animated  portraiture,  and  much  dull,  pedantic 
disquisition.  In  these  delineations  we  now  and  then  meet 
with  a touch  of  his  pencil,  which,  from  its  simplicity  and 
vigor,  may  be  called  truly  Dantesque.  Indeed  the  Castilian 
Muse  never  before  ventured  on  so  bold  a flight;  and,  not- 
withstanding the  deformity  of  the  general  plan,  the  obsolete 
barbarisms  of  the  phraseology,  its  quaintness  and  pedantry, 
notwithstanding  the  cantering  dactylic  measure  in  which  it  is 
composed,  and  which  to  the  ear  of  a foreigner  can  scarcely 
be  made  tolerable,  the  work  abounds  in  conceptions,  nay  in 
whole  episodes,  of  such  mingled  energy  and  beauty,  as  indi- 
cate genius  of  the  highest  order.  In  some  of  his  smaller 
pieces  his  style  assumes  a graceful  flexibility,  too  generally 
denied  to  his  more  strained  and  elaborate  efforts.31 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  bring  under  review  the  minor 
luminaries  of  this  period.  Alfonso  de  Baena,  a converted 
Jew,  secretary  of  John  the  Second,  compiled  the  fugitive 
pieces  of  more  than  fifty  of  these  ancient  troubadours  into  a 
ca7icionero , “for  the  disport  and  divertisement  of  his  highness 
the  king,  when  he  should  find  himself  too  sorely  oppressed 
with  cares  of  state,’ ’ a case  we  may  imagine  of  no  rare  occur- 
rence. The  original  manuscript  of  Baena,  transcribed  in 
beautiful  characters  of  the  fifteenth  century,  lies,  or  did  lie 
until  very  lately,  unheeded  in  the  cemetery  of  the  Escurial, 
with  the  dust  of  many  a better  worthy.32  The  extracts  se- 
lected from  it  by  Castro,  although  occasionally  exhibiting 
some  fluent  graces  with  considerable  variety  of  versification, 
convey,  on  the  whole,  no  very  high  idea  of  taste  or  poetic 
talent.33 

Indeed  this  epoch,  as  before  remarked,  was  not  so  much 
distinguished  by  uncommon  displays  of  genius,  as  by  its 
general  intellectual  movement,  and  the  enthusiasm  kindled 
for  liberal  studies.  Thus  we  find  the  corporation  of  Sevilla 
granting  a hundred  doblas  of  gold  as  the  guerdon  of  a poet, 
who  had  celebrated  in  some  score  of  verses  the  glories  of 
their  native  city;  and  appropriating  the  same  sum  as  an 
annual  premium  for  a similar  performance.34  It  is  not  often 
that  the  productions  of  a poet  laureate  have  been  more  liberal- 
ly recompensed  even  by  royal  bounty.  But  the  gifted  spirits 
of  that  day  mistook  the  road  to  immortality.  Disdaining 
the  untutored  simplicity  of  their  predecessors,  they  sought 
to  rise  above  them  by  an  ostentation  of  learning,  as  well  as 
by  a more  classical  idiom-  In  the  latter  particular  they  sue- 


BIRTH  OF  ISABELLA. 


8l 


ceeded.  They  much  improved  the  external  forms  of  poetry, 
and  their  compositions  exhibit  a high  degree  of  literary  finish, 
compared  with  all  that  preceded  them.  But  their  happiest 
sentiments  are  frequently  involved  in  such  a cloud  of  meta- 
phor, as  to  become  nearly  unintelligible;  while  they  invoke 
the  pagan  deities  with  a shameless  prodigality,  that  would 
scandalize  even  a French  lyric.  This  cheap  display  of  school- 
boy erudition,  however  it  may  have  appalled  their  own  age, 
has  been  a principal  cause  of  their  comparative  oblivion  with 
posterity.  How  far  superior  is  one  touch  of  nature,  as  the 
“Finojosa”  or  “Querella  de  Amor,”  for  example,  of  the 
marquis  of  Santillana,  to  all  this  farrago  of  metaphor  and 
mythology! 

The  impulse,  given  to  Castilian  poetry,  extended  to  other 
departments  of  elegant  literature.  Epistolary  and  historical 
composition  were  cultivated  with  considerable  success.  The 
latter,  especially,  might  admit  of  advantageous  comparison 
with  that  of  any  other  country  in  Europe  at  the  same  period;35 
and  it  is  remarkable,  that,  after  such  early  promise,  the 
modern  Spaniards  have  not  been  more  successful  in  perfect- 
ing a classical  prose  style. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  give  an  idea  of  the  state  of  mental 
improvement  in  Castile  under  John  the  Second.  The  Muses, 
who  had  found  a shelter  in  his  court  from  the  anarchy  which 
reigned  abroad,  soon  fled  from  its  polluted  precincts  under 
the  reign  of  his  successor  Henry  the  Fourth,  whose  sordid 
appetites  were  incapable  of  being  elevated  above  the  objects 
of  the  senses.  If  we  have  dwelt  somewhat  long  on  a more 
pleasing  picture,  it  is  because  our  road  is  now  to  lead  us 
across  a dreary  waste  exhibiting  scarcely  a vestige  of  civili- 
zation. 

While  a small  portion  of  the  higher  orders  of  the  nation 
was  thus  endeavoring  to  forget  the  public  calamities  in  the 
tranquillizing  pursuit  of  letters,  and  a much  larger  portion 
in  the  indulgence  of  pleasure,30  the  popular  aversion  for  the 
minister  Luna  had  been  gradually  infusing  itself  into  the 
royal  bosom.  His  too  obvious  assumption  of  superiority, 
even  over  the  monarch  who  had  raised  him  from  the  dust, 
was  probably  the  real  though  secret  cause  of  this  disgust. 
But  the  habitual  ascendency  of  the  favorite  over  his  master, 
prevented  the  latter  from  disclosing  this  feeling  until  it  was 
heightened  by  an  occurrence,  which  sets  in  a strong  light  the 
imbecility  of  the  one  and  the  presumption  of  the  other.  John, 
on  the  death  of  his  wife,  Maria  of  Aragon,  had  formed  the 
design  of  connecting  himself  with  a daughter  of  the  king  of 
4* 


82 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  QF  CASTILE. 


France.  But  the  constable,  in  the  mean  time,  without  even 
the  privity  of  his  master,  entered  into  negotiations  for  his 
marriage  with  the  princess  Isabella,  granddaughter  of  John 
the  First  of  Portugal;  and  the  monarch,  with  an  unprece- 
dented degree  of  complaisance,  acquiesced  in  an  arrange- 
ment professedly  repugnant  to  his  own  inclinations.37  By 
one  of  those  dispensations  of  Providence,  however,  which 
often  confound  the  plans  of  the  wisest,  as  of  the  weakest, 
the  column,  which  the  minister  had  so  artfully  raised  for  his 
support,  served  only  to  crush  him. 

The  new  queen,  disgusted  with  his  haughty  bearing,  and 
probably  not  much  gratified  with  the  subordinate  situation 
to  which  he  had  reduced  her  husband,  entered  heartily  into 
the  feelings  of  the  latter,  and  indeed  contrived  to  extinguish 
whatever  spark  of  latent  affection  for  his  ancient  favorite 
lurked  within  his  breast.  John,  yet  fearing  the  overgrown 
power  of  the  constable  too  much  to  encounter  him  openly, 
condescended  to  adopt  the  dastardly  policy  of  Tiberius  on 
a similar  occasion,  by  caressing  the  man  whom  he  designed 
to  ruin;  and  he  eventually  obtained  possession  of  his  person, 
only  by  a violation  of  the  royal  safe-conduct.  The  constable’s 
trial  was  referred  to  a commission  of  jurists  and  privy  coun- 
sellors, who,  after  a summary  and  informal  investigation, 
pronounced  on  him  the  sentence  of  death  on  a specification 
of  charges  either  general  and  indeterminate,  or  of  the  most 
trivial  import.  “If  the  king,”  says  Garibay,  “had  dispensed 
similar  justice  to  all  his  nobles,  who  equally  deserved  it  in 
those  turbulent  times,  he  would  have  had  but  few  to  reign 
over.”  38 

The  constable  had  supported  his  disgrace,  from  the  first, 
with  an  equanimity  not  to  have  been  expected  from  his  ela- 
tion in  prosperity;  and  he  now  received  the  tidings  of  his 
fate  with  a similar  fortitude.  As  he  rode  along  the  streets  to 
the  place  of  execution,  clad  in  the  sable  livery  of  an  ordinary 
criminal,  and  deserted  by  those  who  had  been  reared  by  his 
bounty,  the  populace,  who  before  called  so  loudly  for  his 
disgrace,  struck  with  this  astonishing  reverse  of  his  brilliant 
fortunes,  were  melted  into  tears.39  They  called  to  mind  the 
numerous  instances  of  his  magnanimity.  They  reflected, 
that  the  ambitious  schemes  of  his  rivals  had  not  been  a wit 
less  selfish,  though  less  successful,  than  his  own;  and  that, 
if  his  cupidity  appeared  insatiable,  he  had  dispensed  the 
fruits  of  it  in  acts  of  princely  munificence.  He  himself 
maintained  a serene  and  even  cheerful  aspect.  Meeting  one 
of  the  domestics  of  Prince  Henry,  he  bade  him  request  the 


BIRTH  OF  ISABELLA. 


83 


prince  “to  reward  the  attachment  of  his  servants  with  a 
different  guerdon  from  what  his  master  had  assigned  to  him.” 
As  he  ascended  the  scaffold,  he  surveyed  the  apparatus  of 
death  with  composure,  and  calmly  submitted  himself  to  the 
stroke  of  the  executioner,  who,  in  the  savage  style  of  the 
executions  of  that  day,  plunged  his  knife  into  the  throat  of 
his  victim,  and  deliberately  severed  his  head  from  his  body. 
A basin,  for  the  reception  of  alms  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
his  interment,  was  placed  at  one  extremity  of  the  scaffold; 
and  his  mutilated  remains,  after  having  been  exposed  for 
several  days  to  the  gaze  of  the  populace,  were  removed,  by 
the  brethren  of  a charitable  order,  to  a place  called  the 
hermitage  of  St.  Andrew,  appropriated  as  the  cemetery  for 
malefactors.40 

Such  was  the  tragical  end  of  Alvaro  de  Luna;  a man, 
who,  for  more  than  thirty  years,  controlled  the  counsels  of 
the  sovereign,  or,  to  speak  more  properly,  was  himself  the 
sovereign  of  Castile.  His  fate  furnishes  one  of  the  most 
memorable  lessons  in  history.  It  was  not  lost  on  his  con- 
temporaries; and  the  marquis  of  Santillana  has  made  use  of 
it  to  point  the  moral  of  perhaps  the  most  pleasing  of  his 
didactic  compositions.41  John  did  not  long  survive  his 
favorite’s  death,  which  he  was  seen  afterward  to  lament 
even  with  tears.  Indeed  during  the  whole  of  the  trial  he 
had  exhibited  the  most  pitiable  agitation,  having  twice  issued 
and  recalled  his  orders  countermanding  the  constable’s  exe- 
cution; and,  had  it  not  been  for  the  superior  constancy,  or 
vindictive  temper  of  the  queen,  he  would  probably  have 
yielded  to  these  impulses  of  returning  affection.42 

So  far  from  deriving  a wholesome  warning  from  experience, 
John  confided  the  entire  direction  of  his  kingdom  to  indi- 
viduals not  less  interested,  but  possessed  of  far  less  enlarged 
capacities,  than  the  former  minister.  Penetrated  with  remorse 
at  the  retrospect  of  his  unprofitable  life,  and  filled  with  mel- 
ancholy presages  of  the  future,  the  unhappy  prince  lamented 
to  his  faithful  attendant  Cibdareal,  on  his  deathbed,  that 
‘‘he  had  not  been  born  the  son  of  a mechanic,  instead  of 
king  of  Castile.”  He  died  July  21st,  1454,  after  a reign  of 
eight  and  forty  years,  if  reign  it  may  be  called,  which  was 
more  properly  one  protracted  minority.  John  left  one  child 
by  his  first  wife,  Henry,  who  succeeded  him  on  the  throne; 
and  by  his  second  wife  two  others,  Alfonso,  then  an  infant, 
and  Isabella,  afterward  queen  of  Castile,  the  subject  of  the 
present  narrative.  She  had  scarcely  reached  her  fourth 
year  at  the  time  of  her  father’s  decease,  having  been  born 


84 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  CASTILE. 


on  the  2 2d  of  April,  1451,  at  Madrigal.  The  king  recom- 
mended his  younger  children  to  the  especial  care  and  pro- 
tection of  their  brother  Henry,  and  assigned  the  town  of 
Cuellar,  with  its  territory  and  a considerable  sum  of  money, 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  Infanta  Isabella.43 


CHAPTER  II. 


CONDITION  OF  ARAGON  DURING  THE  MINORITY  OF  FERDI- 
NAND.  REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 

I452 — I472- 

John  of  Aragon. — Difficulties  with  his  Son  Carlos. — Birth  of  Ferdinand. — 
Insurrection  of  Catalonia. — Death  of  Carlos. — His  Character. — Tragical 
Story  of  Blanche. — Young  F erdinand  besieged  by  the  Catalans. — T reaty 
between  France  and  Aragon. — Distress  and  Embarrassments  of  John. 
— Siege  and  Surrender  of  Barcelona. 

We  must  now  transport  the  reader  to  Aragon,  in  order  to 
take  a view  of  the  extraordinary  circumstances,  which  opened 
the  way  for  Ferdinand’s  succession  in  that  kingdom.  The 
throne,  which  had  become  vacant  by  the  death  of  Martin, 
in  1410,  was  awarded  by  the  committee  of  judges  to  whom 
the  nation  had  referred  the  great  question  of  the  succession, 
to  Ferdinand,  regent  of  Castile  during  the  minority  of  his 
nephew,  John  the  Second;  and  thus  the  sceptre,  after  having 
for  more  than  two  centuries  descended  in  the  family  of  Bar- 
celona, was  transferred  to  the  same  bastard  branch  of  Tras- 
tamara,  that  ruled  over  the  Castilian  monarchy.1  Ferdinand 
the  First  was  succeeded  after  a brief  reign  by  his  son  Alfonso 
the  Fifth,  whose  personal  history  belongs  less  to  Aragon  than 
to  Naples,  which  kingdom  he  acquired  by  his  own  prowess, 
and  where  he  established  his  residence,  attracted,  no  doubt, 
by  the  superior  amenity  of  the  climate  and  the  higher  intel- 
lectual culture,  as  well  as  the  pliant  temper  of  the  people, 
far  more  grateful  to  the  monarch  than  the  sturdy  indepen- 
dence of  his  own  countrymen. 

During  his  long  absence,  the  government  of  his  hereditary 
domains  devolved  on  his  brother  John,  as  his  lieutenant- 
general  in  Aragon.2  This  prince  had  married  Blanche, 
widow  of  Martin,  king  of  Sicily,  and  daughter  of  Charles 
the  Third,  of  Navarre.  By  her  he  had  three  children;  Car- 
los, prince  of  Viana;3  Blanche,  married  to  and  afterward 
repudiated  by  Henry  the  Fourth,  of  Castile;4  and  Eleanor, 
who  espoused  a French  noble,  Gaston,  count  of  Foix.  On 


86 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 


the  demise  of  the  elder  Blanche,  the  crown  of  Navarre  right- 
fully belonged  to  her  son,  the  prince  of  Viana,  conformably 
to  a stipulation  in  her  marriage  contract,  that,  on  the  event 
of  her  death,  the  eldest  heir  male,  and,  in  default  ox  sons, 
female,  should  inherit  the  kingdom  to  the  exclusion  of  her 
husband.5  This  provision,  which  had  been  confirmed  by 
her  father,  Charles  the  Third,  in  his  testament,  was  also 
recognized  in  her  own,  accompanied  however  with  a request, 
that  her  son  Carlos,  then  twenty-one  years  of  age,  would, 
before  assuming  the  sovereignty,  solicit  ‘ ‘the  good  will  and 
approbation  of  his  father.”  6 Whether  this  approbation  was 
withheld,  or  whether  it  was  ever  solicited,  does  not  appear. 
It  seems  probable,  however,  that  Carlos,  perceiving  no  dis- 
position in  his  father  to  relinquish  the  rank  and  nominal  title 
of  king  of  Navarre,  was  willing  he  should  retain  them,  so 
long  as  he  himself  should  be  allowed  to  exercise  the  actual 
rights  of  sovereignty;  which  indeed  he  did,  as  lieutenant- 
general  or  governor  of  the  kingdom,  at  the  time  of  his 
mother’s  decease,  and  for  some  years  after.7 

In  1447,  John  of  Aragon  contracted  a second  alliance  with 
Joan  Henriquez,  of  the  blood  royal  of  Castile,  and  daughter 
of  Don  Frederic  Henriquez,  admiral  of  that  kingdom;8  a 
woman  considerably  younger  than  himself,  of  consummate 
address,  intrepid  spirit,  and  unprincipled  ambition.  Some 
years  after  this  union,  John  sent  his  wife  into  Navarre,  with 
authority  to  divide  with  his  son  Carlos  the  administration  of 
the  government  there.  This  encroachment  on  his  rights, 
for  such  Carlos  reasonably  deemed  it,  was  not  mitigated  by 
the  deportment  of  the  young  queen,  who  displayed  all  the 
insolence  of  sudden  elevation,  and  who  from  the  first  seems 
to  have  regarded  the  prince  with  the  malevolent  eye  of  a 
step-mother. 

Navarre  was  at  that  time  divided  by  two  potent  factions, 
styled,  from  their  ancient  leaders,  Beaumonts  a::d  Agramonts; 
whose  hostility,  originating  in  a personal  feud,  had  continued 
long  after  its  original  cause  had  become  extinct.9  The 
prince  of  Viana  was  intimately  connected  with  some  of  the 
principal  partisans  of  the  Beaumont  faction,  who  heightened 
by  their  suggestions  the  indignation  to  which  his  naturally 
gentle  temper  had  been  roused  by  the  usurpation  of  Joan, 
and  who  even  called  on  him  to  assume  openly,  and  in  defi- 
ance of  his  father,  the  sovereignty  which  of  right  belonged 
to  him.  The  emissaries  of  Castile,  too,  eagerly  seized  this 
occasion  of  retaliating  on  John  his  interference  in  the  domes- 
tic concerns  of  that  monarchy,  by  fanning  the  spark  of  discord 


MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. 


87 


into  a flame.  The  Agramonts,  on  the  other  hand,  induced 
rather  by  hostility  to  their  political  adversaries  than  to  the 
prince  of  Viana,  vehemently  espoused  the  cause  of  the  queen. 
In  this  revival  of  half-buried  animosities,  fresh  causes  of 
disgust  were  multiplied,  and  matters  soon  came  to  the  worst 
extremity.  . The  queen,  who  had  retired  to  Estella,  was 
besieged  there  by  the  forces  of  the  prince.  The  king,  her 
husband,  on  receiving  intelligence  of  this,  instantly  marched 
to  her  relief;  and  the  father  and  son  confronted  each  other 
at  the  head  of  their  respective  armies  near  the  town  of 
Aybar.10 

The  unnatural  position,  in  which  they  thus  found  them- 
selves, seems  to  have  sobered  their  minds,  and  to  have 
opened  the  way  to  an  accommodation,  the  terms  of  which 
were  actually  arranged,  when  the  long-smothered  rancor 
of  the  ancient  factions  of  Navarre  thus  brought  in  martial 
array  against  each  other,  refusing  all  control,  precipitated 
them  into  an  engagement.  The  royal  forces  were  inferior 
in  number,  but  superior  in  discipline,  to  those  of  the  prince, 
who,  after  a well-contested  action,  saw  his  own  party  entirely 
discomfited,  and  himself  a prisoner.11 

Some  months  before  this  event,  Queen  Joan  had  been 
delivered  of  a son,  afterward  so  famous  as  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic;  whose  humble  prospects,  at  the  time  of  his  birth, 
as  a younger  brother,  afforded  a striking  contrast  with  the 
splendid  destiny  which  eventually  awaited  him.  This  auspi- 
cious event  occurred  in  the  little  town  of  Sos,  in  Aragon, 
on  the  10th  of  March,  1452;  and,  as  it  was  nearly  contempo- 
rary with  the  capture  of  Constantinople,  is  regarded  by 
Garibay  to  have  been  providentially  assigned  to  this  period, 
as  affording,  in  a religious  view,  an  ample  counterpoise  to 
the  loss  of  the  capital  of  Christendom.12 

The  demonstrations  of  satisfaction,  exhibited  by  John  and 
his  court  on  this  occasion,  contrasted  strangely  with  the  stern 
severity  with  which  he  continued  to  visit  the  offences  of  his 
elder  offspring.  It  was  not  until  after  many  months  of 
captivity  that  the  king,  in  deference  to  public  opinion  rather 
than  the  movements  of  his  own  heart,  was  induced  to  release 
his  son,  on  conditions,  however,  so  illiberal  (his  indisputable 
claim  to  Navarre  not  being  even  touched  upon)  as  to  afford 
no  reasonable  basis  of  reconciliation.  The  young  prince 
accordingly,  on  his  return  to  Navarre,  became  again  involved 
in  the  factions  which  desolated  that  unhappy  kingdom,  and, 
after  an  ineffectual  struggle  against  his  enemies,  resolved  to 
seek  an  asylum  at  the  court  of  his  uncle  Alfonso  the  Fifth, 


88 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 


of  Naples,  and  to  refer  to  him  the  final  arbitration  of  his 
differences  with  his  father.13 

On  his  passage  through  France  and  the  various  courts  of 
Italy,  he  was  received  with  the  attentions  due  to  his  rank, 
and  still  more  to  his  personal  character  and  misfortunes.  Nor 
was  he  disappointed  in  the  sympathy  and  favorable  reception, 
which  he  had  anticipated  from  his  uncle.  Assured  of  protec- 
tion from  so  high  a quarter,  Carlos  might  now  reasonably 
flatter  himself  with  the  restitution  of  his  legitimate  rights, 
when  these  bright  prospects  were  suddenly  overcast  by  the 
death  of  Alfonso,  who  expired  at  Naples  of  a fever  in  the 
month  of  May,  1458,  bequeathing  his  hereditary  dominions 
of  Spain,  Sicily,  and  Sardinia  to  his  brother  John,  and  his 
kingdom  of  Naples  to  his  illegitimate  son  Ferdinand.14 

The  frank  and  courteous  manners  of  Carlos  had  won  so 
powerfully  on  the  affections  of  the  Neapolitans,  who  dis- 
trusted the  dark,  ambiguous  character  of  Ferdinand,  Alfon- 
so’s heir,  that  a large  party  eagerly  pressed  the  prince  to 
assert  his  title  to  the  vacant  throne,  assuring  him  of  a general 
support  from  the  people.  But  Carlos,  from  motives  of 
prudence  or  magnanimity,  declined  engaging  in  this  new 
contest,15  and  passed  over  to  Sicily,  whence  he  resolved  to 
solicit  a final  reconciliation  with  his  father.  He  was  received 
with  much  kindness  by  the  Sicilians,  who,  preserving  a grate- 
ful recollection  of  the  beneficent  sway  of  his  mother  Blanche, 
when  queen  of  that  island,  readily  transferred  to  the  son 
their  ancient  attachment  to  the  parent.  An  assembly  of  the 
stales  voted  a liberal  supply  for  his  present  exigencies,  and 
even  urged  him,  if  we  are  to  credit  the  Catalan  ambassador 
at  the  court  of  Castile,  to  assume  the  sovereignty  of  the 
island.16  Carlos,  however,  far  from  entertaining  so  rash  an 
ambition,  seems  to  have  been  willing  to  seclude  himself  from 
public  observation.  He  passed  the  greater  portion  of  his 
time  at  a convent  of  Benedictine  friars  not  far  from  Messina, 
where,  in  the  society  of  learned  men,  and  with  the  facilities 
of  an  extensive  library,  he  endeavored  to  recall  the  happier 
hours  of  youth  in  the  pursuit  of  his  favorite  studies  of  philo- 
sophy and  history.17 

In  the  meanwhile,  John,  now  king  of  Aragon  and  its  de- 
pendencies, alarmed  by  the  reports  of  his  son’s  popularity 
in  Sicily,  became  as  solicitous  for  the  security  of  his  authority 
there,  as  he  had  before  been  for  it  in  Navarre.  He  accord- 
ingly sought  to  soothe  the  mind  of  the  prince  by  the  fairest 
professions,  and  to  allure  him  back  to  Spain  by  the  prospect 
of  an  effectual  reconciliation.  Carlos,  believing  what  he 


MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. 


89 


most  earnestly  wished,  in  opposition  to  the  advice  of  his 
Sicilian  counsellors,  embarked  for  Marjorca,  and,  after  some 
preliminary  negotiations,  crossed  over  to  the  coast  of  Barce- 
lona. Postponing,  for  fear  of  giving  offence  to  his  father, 
his  entrance  into  that  city,  which,  indignant  at  his  persecu- 
tion, had  made  the  most  brilliant  preparations  for  his  recep- 
tion, he  proceeded  to  Iguilada,  where  an  interview  took 
place  between  him  and  the  king  and  queen,  in  which  he 
conducted  himself  with  unfeigned  humility  and  penitence, 
reciprocated  on  their  part  by  the  most  consummate  dissimu- 
lation.18 

All  parties  now  confided  in  the  stability  of  a pacification  so 
anxiously  desired,  and  effected  with  such  apparent  cordiality. 
It  was  expected,  that  John  would  hasten  to  acknowledge 
his  son’s  title  as  heir  apparent  to  the  crown  of  Aragon,  and 
convene  an  assembly  of  the  states  to  tender  him  the  cus- 
tomary oath  of  allegiance.  But  nothing  was  further  from 
the  monarch’s  intention.  He  indeed  summoned  the  Aragon- 
ese cortes  at  Fraga  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  their  homage 
to  himself;  but  he  expressly  refused  their  request  touching  a 
similar  ceremony  to  the  prince  of  Viana;  and  he  openly  re- 
buked the  Catalans  for  presuming  to  address  him  as  the 
successor  to  the  crown.19 

In  this  unnatural  procedure  it  was  easy  to  discern  the  in- 
fluence of  the  queen.  In  addition  to  her  original  causes  of 
aversion  to  Carlos,  she  regarded  him  with  hatred  as  the  in- 
superable obstacle  to  her  own  child  Ferdinand’s  advance- 
ment. Even  the  affection  of  John  seemed  to  be  now 
wholly  transferred  from  the  offspring  of  his  first  to  that  of 
his  second  marriage;  and,  as  the  queen’s  influence  over  him 
was  unbounded,  she  found  it  easy  by  artful  suggestions  to 
put  a dark  construction  on  every  action  of  Carlos,  and  to 
close  up  every  avenue  of  returning  affection  within  his 
bosom. 

Convinced  at  length  of  the  hopeless  alienation  of  his 
father,  the  prince  of  Viana  turned  his  attention  to  other  quar- 
ters, whence  he  might  obtain  support,  and  eagerly  entered 
into  a negotiation,  which  had  been  opened  with  him  on  the 
part  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  of  Castile,  for  a union  with  his 
sister,  the  princes  Isabella.  This  was  coming  in  direct  colli- 
sion with  the  favorite  scheme  of  his  parents.  The  marriage 
of  Isabella  with  the  young  Ferdinand,  which  indeed,  from 
the  parity  of  their  ages,  was  a much  more  suitable  connexion 
than  that  with  Carlos,  had  long  been  the  darling  object  of 
their  policy,  and  they  resolved  to  effect  it  in  the  face  of  every 


9° 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 


obstacle.  In  conformity  with  this  purpose,  John  invited  the 
prince  of  Viana  to  attend  him  at  Lerida,  where  he  was  then 
holding  the  cortes  of  Catalonia.  The  latter  fondly,  and  in- 
deed foolishly,  after  his  manifold  experience  to  the  contrary, 
confiding  in  the  relenting  disposition  of  his  father,  hastened 
to  obey  the  summons,  in  expectation  of  being  publicly  ac- 
knowledged as  his  heir  in  the  assembly  of  the  states.  After 
a brief  interview  he  was  arrested,  and  his  person  placed  in 
strict  confinement.20 

The  intelligence  of  this  perfidious  procedure  diffused 
general  consternation  among  all  classes.  They  understood 
too  well  the  artifices  of  the  queen  and  the  vindictive  temper 
of  the  king,  not  to  feel  the  most  serious  apprehensions,  not 
only  for  the  liberty,  but  for  the  life  of  their  prisoner.  The 
cortes  of  Lerida,  which,  though  dissolved  on  that  very  day, 
had  not  yet  separated,  sent  an  embassy  to  John,  requesting 
to  know  the  nature  of  the  crimes  imputed  to  his  son.  The 
permanent  deputation  of  Aragon,  and  a delegation  from  the 
council  of  Barcelona,  waited  on  him  for  a similar  purpose, 
remonstrating  at  the  same  time  against  any  violent  end  un- 
constitutional proceeding.  To  all  these  John  returned  a 
cold,  evasive  answer,  darkly  intimating  a suspicion  of  con- 
spiracy by  his  son  against  his  life,  and  reserving  to  himself 
the  punishment  of  the  offence.21 

. No  sooner  was  the  result  of  their  mission  communicated, 
than  the  whole  kingdom  was  thrown  into  a ferment.  The 
high-spirited  Catalans  rose  in  arms,  almost  to  a man.  The 
royal  govenor,  after  a fruitless  attempt  to  escape,  was  seized 
and  imprisoned  in  Barcelona.  Troops  were  levied,  and 
placed  under  the  command  of  experienced  officers  of  the 
highest  rank.  The  heated  populace,  outstripping  the  tardy 
movement  of  military  operations,  marched  forward  to  Lerida 
in  order  to  get  possession  of  the  royal  person.  The  king, 
who  had  seasonable  notice  of  this,  displayed  his  wonted 
presence  of  mind.  He  ordered  supper  to  be  prepared  for 
him  at  the  usual  hour,  but,  on  the  approach  of  night,  made 
his  escape  on  horseback  with  one  or  two  attendants  only,  on 
the  road  to  Fraga,  a town  within  the  territory  of  Aragon; 
while  the  mob,  traversing  the  streets  of  Lerida,  and  finding 
little  resistance  at  the  gate,  burst  into  the  palace  and  ran- 
sacked every  corner  of  it,  piercing,  in  their  fury  even  the 
curtains  and  beds  with  their  swords  and  lances  22 

The  Catalan  army,  ascertaining  the  route  of  the  royal 
fugitive,  marched  directly  on  Fraga,  and  arriving  so  promptly 
that  John,  with  his  wife,  and  the  deputies  of  the  Aragonese 


MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. 


91 


cortes  assembled  there,  had  barely  time  to  make  their  escape 
on  the  road  to  Saragossa,  while  the  insurgents  poured  into 
the  city  from  the  opposite  quarter.  The  person  of  Carlos, 
in  the  meantime,  was  secured  in  the  inaccessible  fortress  of 
Morelia,  situated  in  a mountainous  district  on  the  confines 
of  Valencia.  John,  on  halting  at  Saragossa,  endeavored  to 
assemble  an  Aagonese  force  capable  of  resisting  the  Catalan 
rebels.  But  tne  flame  of  insurrection  had  spread  throughout 
Aragon,  Valencia,  and  Navarre,  and  was  speedily  communi- 
cated to  his  transmarine  possessions  of  Sardinia  and  Sicily. 
The  king  of  Castile  supported  Carlos  at  the  same  time  by  an 
irruption  into  Navarre,  and  his  partisans,  the  Beaumonts, 
cooperated  with  these  movements  by  descent  on  Aragon.23 

John,  alarmed  at  the  tempest  which  his  precipitate  conduct 
had  roused,  at  length  saw  the  necessity  of  releasing  his  pri- 
soner; and,  as  the  queen  had  incurred  general  odium  as  the 
chief  instigator  of  his  persecution,  he  affected  to  do  this 
in  consequence  of  her  interposition.  As  Carlos  with  his 
mother-in-law  traversed  the  country  on  their  way  to  Barce- 
lona, he  was  everywhere  greeted,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the 
villages  thronging  out  to  meet  him,  with  the  most  touching 
enthusiasm.  The  queen,  however,  having  been  informed  by 
the  magistrates  that  her  presence  would  not  be  permitted  in 
the  capital,  deemed  it  prudent  to  remain  at  Villa  Franca, 
about  twenty  miles  distant;  while  the  prince,  entering  Bar- 
celona, was  welcomed  with  the  triumphant  acclamations  due 
to  a conqueror  returning  from  a campaign  of  victories.24 

The  conditions  on  which  the  Catalans  proposed  to  resume 
their  allegiance  to  their  sovereign,  were  sufficiently  humilia- 
ting. They  insisted  not  only  on  his  public  acknowledgment 
of  Carlos  as  his  rightful  heir  and  successor,  with  the  office, 
conferred  on  him  for  life,  of  lieutenant-general  of  Catalonia, 
but  on  an  obligation  on  his  own  part,  that  he  would  never 
enter  the  province  without  their  express  permission.  Such 
was  John’s  extremity,  that  he  not  only  accepted  these  un- 
palatable conditions,  but  did  it  with  affected  cheerfulness. 

Fortune  seemed  now  weary  of  persecution,  and  Carlos, 
happy  in  the  attachment  of  a brave  and  powerful  people, 
appeared  at  length  to  have  reached  a haven  of  permanent 
security.  But  at  this  crisis  he  fell  ill  of  a fever,  or,  as  some 
historians  insinuate,  of  a disorder  occasioned  by  poison  ad- 
ministered during  his  imprisonment;  a fact,  which,  although 
unsupported  by  positive  evidence,  seems,  notwithstanding 
its  atrocity,  to  be  no  wise  improbable,  considering  the 
character  of  the  parties  implicated.  He  expired  on  the  23d 


92 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 


of  September,  1461,  in  the  forty-first  year  of  his  age,  be- 
queathing his  title  to  the  crown  of  Navarre,  in  conformity 
with  the  original  marriage  contract  of  his  parents,  to  his 
sister  Blanche  and  her  posterity.25 

Thus  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  at  the  monent  when  he 
seemed  to  have  triumphed  over  the  malice  of  his  enemies, 
died  the  prince  of  Viana,  whose  character,  conspicuous  for 
many  virtues,  has  become  still  more  so  for  his  misfortunes. 
His  first  act  of  rebellion,  if,  such,  considering  his  legitimate 
pretensions  to  the  crown,  it  can  be  called,  was  severely  re- 
quited by  his  subsequent  calamities;  while  the  vindictive  and 
persecuting  temper  of  his  parents  excited  a very  general 
commiseration  in  his  behalf,  and  brought  him  more  effectual 
support,  than  could  have  been  derived  from  his  own  merits 
or  the  justice  of  his  cause. 

The  character  of  Don  Carlos  has  been  portrayed  by  Lucio 
Marineo,  who,  as  he  wrote  an  account  of  these  transactions 
by  the  command  of  Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  cannot  be  sus- 
pected of  any  undue  partiality  in  favor  of  the  prince  of 
Viana.  “Such,”  says  he,  “were  his  temperance  and  modera- 
tion, such  the  excellence  of  his  breeding,  the  purity  of  his 
life,  his  liberality  and  munificence,  and  such  the  sweetness 
of  his  demeanor,  that  no  one  thing  seemed  to  be  wanting  in 
him  which  belongs  to  a true  and  perfect  prince.”26  He  is 
describe  by  another  contemporary,  as  “in  person  somewhat 
above  the  middle  stature,  having  a thin  visage,  with  a serene 
and  modest  expression  of  countenance,  and  withal  some- 
what inclined  to  melancholy.” 27  He  was  a considerable 
proficient  in  music,  painting,  and  several  mechanic  arts. 
He  frequently  amused  himself  with  poetical  composition, 
and  was  the  intimate  friend  of  some  of  the  most  eminent 
bards  of  his  time.  But  he  was  above  all  devoted  to  the 
study  of  philosophy  and  history.  He  made  a version  of 
Aristotle’s  Ethics  into  the  vernacular,  which  was  first  printed 
nearly  fifty  years  after  his  death,  at  Saragossa,  in  1509.  He 
compiled  also  a Chronicle  of  Navarre  from  the  earliest  period 
to  his  own  times,  which,  although  suffered  to  remain  in 
manuscript,  has  been  liberally  used  and  cited  by  the  Spanish 
antiquaries,  Garibay,  Blancas,  and  others.28  His  natural 
taste  and  his  habits  fitted  him  much  better  for  the  quiet  en- 
joyment of  letters,  than  for  the  tumultuous  scenes  in  which 
it  was  his  misfortune  to  be  involved,  and  in  which  he  was 
no  match  for  enemies  grown  gray  in  the  field  and  in  the 
intrigues  of  the  cabinet.  But,  if  his  devotion  to  learning,  so 
rare  in  his  own  age,  and  so  very  rare  among  princes  in  any 


MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. 


93 


age,  was  unpropitious  to  his  success  on  the  busy  theatre  on 
which  he  was  engaged,  it  must  surely  elevate  his  character 
in  the  estimation  of  an  enlightened  posterity. 

The  tragedy  did  not  terminate  with  the  death  of  Carlos. 
His  sister  Blanche,  notwithstanding  the  inoffensive  gentle- 
ness of  her  demeanor,  had  long  been  involved,  by  her  adhe- 
sion to  her  unfortunate  brother,  in  a similar  proscription 
with  him.  The  succession  to  Navarre  having  now  devolved 
on  her,  she  became  tenfold  an  object  of  jealousy  both  to  her 
father,  the  present  possessor  of  that  kingdom,  and  to  her 
sister  Eleanor,  countess  of  Foix,  to  whom  the  reversion  of 
it  had  been  promised  by  John,  on  his  own  decease.  The 
son  of  this  lady,  Gaston  de  Foix,  had  lately  married  a sister  of 
Louis  the  Eleventh,  of  France;  and,  in  a treaty  subsequently 
contracted  between  that  monarch  and  the  king  of  Aragon, 
it  was  stipulated  that  Blanche  should  be  delivered  into  the 
custody  of  the  countess  of  Foix,  as  surety  for  the  suc- 
cession of  the  latter,  and  of  her  posterity,  to  the  crown  of 
Navarre.29 

Conformably  to  this  provision,  John  endeavored  to  per- 
suade the  princess  Blanche  to  accompany  him  into  France, 
under  the  pretext  of  forming  an  alliance  for  her  with  Louis’s 
brother,  the  duke  of  Berri.  The  unfortunate  lady,  compre- 
hending too  well  her  father’s  real  purpose,  besought  him 
with  the  most  piteous  entreaties  not  to  deliver  her  into  the 
hands  of  her  enemies;  but,  closing  his  heart  against  all 
natural  affection,  he  caused  her  to  be  torn  from  her  residence 
at  Olit,  in  the  heart  of  her  own  dominions,  and  forcibly 
transported  across  the  mountains  into  those  of  the  count 
of  Foix.  On  arriving  at  St.  Jean  Pied  de  Port,  a little  town 
on  the  French  side  of  the  Pyrenees,  being  convinced  that 
she  had  nothing  further  to  hope  from  human  succour,  she 
made  a formal  renunciation  of  her  right  to  Navarre  in  favor 
of  her  cousin  and  former  husband,  Henry  the  Fourth,  of 
Castile,  who  had  uniformly  supported  the  cause  of  her  brother 
Carlos.  Henry,  though  debased  by  sensual  iridulgencce, 
was  naturally  of  a gentle  disposition,  and  had  never  treated 
her  personally  with  unkindness.  In  a letter,  which  she  now 
addressed  to  him,  and  which,  says  a Spanish  historian,  cannot 
be  read,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many  years,  without  affecting 
the  most  insensible  heart,30  she  reminded  him  of  the  dawn  of 
happiness  which  she  had  enjoyed  under  his  protection,  of  his 
early  engagements  to  her,  and  of  her  subsequent  calamities; 
and,  anticipating  the  gloomy  destiny  which  awaited  her,  she 
settled  on  him  her  inheritance  of  Navarre,  to  the  entire  ex- 


94  REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 

elusion  of  her  intended  assassins,  the  count  and  countess  of 
Foix.31 

On  the  same  day,  the  last  of  April,  she  was  delivered  over 
to  one  of  their  emissaries,  who  conducted  her  to  the  castle 
of  Ortes  in  Bearne,  where,  after  languishing  in  dreadful  sus- 
pense for  nearly  two  years,  she  was  poisoned  by  the  com- 
mand of  her  sister.32  The  retribution  of  Providence  not 
unfrequently  overtakes  the  guilty  even  in  this  world.  The 
countess  survived  her  father  to  reign  in  Navarre  only  three 
short  weeks;  while  the  crown  was  ravished  from  her  posterity 
for  ever  by  that  very  Ferdinand,  whose  elevation  had  been 
the  object  to  his  parents  of  so  much  solicitude  and  so  many 
crimes. 

Within  a fortnight  after  the  decease  of  Carlos,  the  cus- 
tomary oaths  of  allegiance,  so  pertinaciously  withheld  from 
that  unfortunate  prince,  were  tendered  by  the  Aragonese 
deputation,  at  Calatayud,  to  his  brother  Ferdinand,  then 
only  ten  years  of  age,  as  heir  apparent  of  the  monarchy; 
after  which  he  was  conducted  by  his  mother  into  Cata- 
lonia, in  order  to  receive  the  more  doubtful  homage  of  that 
province.  The  extremities  of  Catalonia  at  this  time  seemed 
to  be  in  perfect  repose,  but  the  capital  was  still  agitated  by 
secret  discontent.  The  ghost  of  Carlos  was  seen  stalking 
by  night  through  the  streets  of  Barcelona,  bewailing  in  pite- 
ous accents  his  untimely  end,  and  invoking  vengeance  on 
his  unnatural  murderers.  The  manifold  miracles  wrought 
at  his  tomb  soon  gained  him  the  reputation  of  a saint,  and 
his  image  received  the  devotional  honors  reserved  for  such 
as  have  been  duly  canonized  by  the  church.33 

The  revolutionary  spirit  of  the  Barcelonians,  kept  alive  by 
the  recollection  of  past  injury,  as  well  as  by  the  apprehen- 
sions of  future  vengeance,  should  John  succeed  in  reestablish- 
ing his  authority  over  them,  soon  became  so  alarming,  that 
the  queen,  whose  consummate  address,  however,  had  first 
accomplished  the  object  of  her  visit,  found  it  advisable  to 
withdraw  from  the  capital;  and  she  sought  refuge,  with  her 
son  and  such  few  adherents  as  still  remained  faithful  to 
them,  in  the  fortified  city  of  Gerona,  about  fifty  miles  north 
of  Barcelona. 

Hither,  however,  she  was  speedily  pursued  by  the  Catalan 
militia,  embodied  under  the  command  of  their  ancient  leader 
Roger,  count  of  Pallas,  and  eager  to  regain  the  prize  which 
they  had  so  inadvertently  lost.  The  city  was  quickly  entered, 
but  the  queen,  with  her  handful  of  followers,  had  retreated 
to  a tower  belonging  to  the  principal  church  in  the  place, 


LOUIS  XI. 


MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. 


95 


which,  as  was  very  frequent  in  Spain,  in  those  wild  times, 
was  so  strongly  fortified  as  to  be  capable  of  maintaining  a 
formidable  resistance.  To  oppose  this,  a wooden  fortress 
of  the  same  height  was  constructed  by  the  assailants,  and 
planted  with  lombards  and  other  pieces  of  artillery  then  in 
use,  which  kept  up  an  unintermitting  discharge  of  stone  bul- 
lets on  the  little  garrison.34  The  Catalans  also  succeeded 
in  running  a mine  beneath  the  fortress,  through  which  a 
considerable  body  of  troops  penetrated  into  it,  when,  their 
premature  cries  of  exultation  having  discovered  them  to  the 
besieged,  they  were  repulsed,  after  a desperate  struggle, 
with  great  slaughter.  The  queen  displayed  the  most  intrepid 
spirit  in  the  midst  of  these  alarming  scenes;  unappalled  by 
the  sense  of  her  own  danger  and  that  of  her  child,  and  by 
the  dismal  lamentations  of  the  females  by  whom  she  was 
surrounded,  she  visited  every  part  of  the  works  in  person, 
cheering  her  defenders  by  her  presence  and  dauntless  resolu- 
tion. Such  were  the  stormy  and  disastrous  scenes  in  which 
the  youthful  Ferdinand  commenced  a career,  whose  subse- 
quent prosperity  was  destined  to  be  checkered  by  scarcely 
a reverse  of  fortune.35 

In  the  mean  while,  John,  having  in  vain  attempted  to 
penetrate  through  Catalonia  to  the  relief  of  his  wife,  effected 
this  by  the  cooperation  of  his  French  ally,  Louis  the  Eleventh. 
That  monarch,  with  his  usual  insidious  policy,  had  covertly 
despatched  an  envoy  to  Barcelona  on  the  death  of  Carlos, 
assuring  the  Catalans  of  his  protection,  should  they  still  con- 
tinue averse  to  a reconciliation  with  their  own  sovereign. 
These  offers  were  but  coldly  received;  and  Louis  found  it 
more  for  his  interest  to  accept  the  propositions  made  to  him 
by  the  king  of  Aragon  himself,  which  subsequently  led  to 
most  important  consequences.  By  three  several  treaties,  of 
the  3d,  2 1st,  and  23d  of  May,  1462,  it  was  stipulated,  that 
Louis  should  furnish  his  ally  with  seven  hundred  lances  and 
a proportionate  number  of  arches  and  artillery  during  the 
war  with  Barcelona,  to  be  indemnified  by  the  payment  of  two 
hundred  thousand  gold  crowns  within  one  year  after  the 
reduction  of  that  city;  as  security  for  which  the  counties  of 
Roussillon  and  Cerdagne  were  pledged  by  John,  with  the 
cession  of  their  revenue  to  the  French  king,  until  such  time 
as  the  original  debt  should  be  redeemed.  In  this  transac- 
tion both  monarchs  manifested  their  usual  policy;  Louis 
believing  that  this  temporary  mortgage  would  become  a 
permanent  alienation,  from  John’s  inability  to  discharge  it; 
while  the  latter  anticipated,  as  the  event  showed,  with  more 


96 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 


justice,  that  the  aversion  of  the  inhabitants  to  the  dismem- 
berment of  their  country  from  the  Aragonese  monarchy 
would  baffle  every  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  French  to 
occupy  it  permanently.36 

In  pursuance  of  these  arrangements,  seven  hundred  French 
lances  with  a considerable  body  of  archers  and  artillery37 
crossed  the  mountains,  and,  rapidly  advancing  on  Gerona, 
compelled  the  insurgent  army  to  raise  the  siege,  and  to 
decamp  with  such  precipitation  as  to  leave  their  cannon  in 
the  hands  of  the  royalists.  The  Catalans  now  threw  aside 
the  thin  veil,  with  which  they  had  hitherto  covered  their 
proceedings.  The  authorities  of  the  principality,  established 
in  Barcelona,  publicly  renounced  their  allegiance  to  King 
John  and  his  son  Ferdinand,  and  proclaimed  them  enemies 
of  the  republic . Writings  at  the  same  time  were  circulated, 
denouncing  from  Scriptural  authority,  as  well  as  natural  rea- 
son, the  doctrine  of  legitimacy  in  the  broadest  terms,  and 
insisting  that  the  Aragonese  monarchs,  far  from  being  ab- 
solute, might  be  lawfully  deposed  for  an  infringement  of  the 
liberties  of  the  nation.  “The  good  of  the  commonwealth/’ 
it  was  said,  “must  always  be  considered  paramount  to  that 
of  the  prince.’’  Extraordinary  doctrines  these  for  the  age 
in  which  they  were  promulged,  affording  a still  more  extra- 
ordinary contrast  with  those  which  have  been  since  familiar 
in  that  unhappy  country!38 

The  government  then  enforced  levies  of  all  such  as  were 
above  the  age  of  fourteen,  and,  distrusting  the  sufficiency  of 
its  own  resources,  offered  the  sovereignty  of  the  principality 
to  Henry  the  Fourth,  of  Castile.  The  court  of  Aragon, 
however,  had  so  successfully  insinuated  its  influence  into 
the  council  of  this  imbecile  monarch,  that  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  afford  the  Catalans  any  effectual  support;  and,  as 
he  abandoned  their  cause  altogether  before  the  expiration 
of  the  year,39  the  crown  was  offered  to  Don  Pedro,  constable 
of  Portugal,  a descendant  of  the  ancient  house  of  Barcelona. 
In  the  mean  while,  the  old  king  of  Aragon,  attended  by  his 
youthful  son,  had  made  himself  master,  with  his  characteris- 
tic activity,  of  considerable  acquisitions  in  the  revolted  ter- 
ritory, successively  reducing  Lerida,40  Tortosa,  and  the  most 
important  places  in  the  south  of  Catalonia.  Many  of  these 
places  were  strongly  fortified,  and  most  of  them  defended  with 
a resolution  which  cost  the  conquerer  a prodigious  sacrifice 
of  time  and  money.  John,  like  Philip  of  Macedon,  made 
use  of  gold  even  more  than  arms,  for  the  reduction  of  his 
enemies;  and,  though  he  indulged  in  occasional  acts  of  resent- 


MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. 


97 


ment,  his  general  treatment  of  those  who  submitted  was  as 
liberal  as  it  was  politic.  His  competitor,  Don  Pedro,  had 
brought  little  foreign  aid  to  the  support  of  his  enterprise; 
he  had  failed  altogether  in  conciliating  the  attachment  of  his 
new  subjects;  and,  as  the  operations  of  the  war  had  been 
conducted  on  his  part  in  the  most  languid  manner,  the  whole 
of  the  principality  seemed  destined  soon  to  relapse  under 
the  dominion  of  its  ancient  master.  At  this  juncture  the 
Portugese  prince  fell  ill  of  a fever,  of  which  he  died  on  the 
29th  of  June,  1466.  This  event,  which  seemed  likely  to  lead 
to  a termination  of  the  war,  proved  ultimately  the  cause  of 
its  protraction.42 

It  appeared,  however,  to  present  a favorable  opportunity 
to  John  for  opening  a negotiation  with  the  insurgents.  But, 
so  resolute  were  they  in  maintaining  their  independence,  that 
the  council  of  Barcelona  condemned  two  of  the  principal 
citizens,  suspected  of  defection  from  the  cause,  to  be  pub- 
licly executed;  it  refused  moreover  to  admit  an  envoy  from 
the  Aragonese  cortes  within  the  city,  and  caused  the  des- 
patches, with  which  he  was  intrusted  by  that  body,  to  be 
torn  in  pieces  before  his  face. 

The  Catalans  then  proceeded  to  elect  Rene  le  Bon,  as  he 
was  styled,  of  Anjou,  to  the  vacant  throne,  brother  of  one 
of  the  original  competitors  for  the  crown  of  Aragon  on  the 
demise  of  Martin;  whose  cognomen  of  “Good”  is  indicative 
of  a sway  far  more  salutary  to  his  subjects  than  the  more 
coveted  and  imposing  title  of  Great.43  This  titular  sovereign 
of  half  a dozen  empires,  in  which  he  did  not  actually  possess 
a rood  of  land,  was  too  far  advanced  in  years  to  assume  this 
perilous  enterprise  himself;  and  he  accordingly  intrusted  it 
to  his  son  John,  duke  of  Calabria  and  Lorraine,  who,  in 
his  romantic  expeditions  in  southern  Italy,  had  acquired  a 
reputation  for  courtesy  and  knightly  prowess,  inferior  to 
none  other  of  his  time.44  Crowds  of  adventures  flocked  to 
the  standard  of  a leader,  whose  ample  inheritance  of  preten- 
sions had  made  him  familiar  with  war  from  his  earliest  boy- 
hood; and  he  soon  found  himself  at  the  head  of  eight 
thousand  effective  troops.  Louis  the  Eleventh,  although 
not  directly  aiding  his  enterprise  with  supplies  of  men  or 
money,  was  willing  so  far  to  countenance  it,  as  to  open  a 
passage  for  him  through  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Rous- 
sillon, then  in  his  keeping,  and  thus  enable  him  to  descend 
his  whole  army  at  once  on  the  northern  borders  of  Cata- 
lonia.46 

The  king  of  Aragon  could  oppose  no  force  capable  of 
Vol.  I. — a. 


98 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 


resisting  this  formidable  army.  His  exchequer,  always  low, 
was  completely  exhausted  by  the  extraordinary  efforts,  which 
he  had  made  in  the  late  campaigns;  and,  as  the  king  of 
France,  either  disgusted  with  the  long  protraction  of  the 
war,  or  from  secret  good-will  to  the  enterprise  of  his  feudal 
subject,  withheld  from  King  John  the  stipulated  subsidies, 
the  latter  monarch  found  himself  unable,  with  every  expe- 
dient of  loan  and  exaction,  to  raise  sufficient  money  to  pay 
his  troops,  or  to  supply  his  magazines.  In  addition  to  this, 
he  was  now  involved  in  a dispute  with  the  count  and  countess 
of  Foix,  who,  eager  to  anticipate  the  possession  of  Navarre, 
which  had  been  guaranteed  to  them  on  their  father’s  decease, 
threatened  a similar  rebellion,  though  on  much  less  justifi- 
able pretences,  to  that  which  he  had  just  experienced  from 
Don  Carlos.  To  crown  the  whole  of  John’s  calamities,  his 
eyesight,  which  had  been  impaired  by  exposure  and  pro- 
tracted sufferings  during  the  winter  siege  of  Amposta,  now 
failed  him  altogether.46 

In  this  extremity,  his  intrepid  wife,  putting  herself  at  the 
head  of  such  forces  as  she  could  collect,  passed  by  water  to 
the  eastern  shores  of  Catalonia,  besieging  Rosas  in  person, 
and  checking  the  operations  of  the  enemy  by  the  capture  of 
several  inferior  places;  while  Prince  Ferdinand,  effecting  a 
junction  with  her  before  Gerona,  compelled  the  duke  of 
Lorraine  to  abandon  the  siege  of  that  important  city.  Ferdi- 
nand’s ardor,  however,  had  nearly  proved  fatal  to  him;  as, 
in  an  accidental  encounter  with  a more  numerous  party  of 
the  enemy,  his  jaded  horse  would  infallibly  have  betrayed 
him  into  their  hands,  had  it  not  been  for  the  devotion  of  his 
officers,  several  of  whom,  throwing  themselves  between  him 
and  his  pursuers,  enabled  him  to  escape  by  the  sacrifice 
of  their  own  liberty. 

These  ineffectual  struggles  could  not  turn  the  tide  of 
fortune.  The  duke  of  Lorraine  succeeded  in  this  and  the 
two  following  campaigns  in  making  himself  master  of  all  the 
rich  district  of  Ampurdan,  northeast  of  Barcelona.  In  the 
capital  itself,  his  truly  princely  qualities  and  his  popular 
address  secured  him  the  most  unbounded  influence.  Such 
was  the  enthusiasm  for  his  person,  that,  when  he  rode 
abroad,  the  people  thronged  around  him  embracing  his 
knees,  the  trappings  of  his  steed,  and  even  the  animal  him- 
self, in  their  extravagance;  while  the  ladies,  it  is  said,  pawned 
their  rings,  necklaces,  and  other  ornaments  of  their  attire, 
in  order  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  war.47 

King  John,  in  the  mean  while,  was  draining  the  cup  of 


MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. 


99 


bitterness  to  the  dregs.  In  the  winter  of  1468,  his  queen, 
Joan  Henriauez,  fell  a victim  to  a painful  disorder,  which 
had  been  secretly  corroding  her  constitution  for  a number  of 
years.  In  many  respects,  she  was  the  most  remarkable  woman 
of  her  time.  She  took  active  part  in  the  politics  of  her  hus- 
band, and  may  be  even  said  to  have  given  them  a direction. 
She  conducted  several  important  diplomatic  negotiations  to 
a happy  issue,  and,  what  was  more  uncommon  in  her  sex, 
displayed  considerable  capacity  for  military  affairs.  Her  per- 
secution of  her  step-son,  Carlos,  has  left  a deep  stain  on  her 
memory.  It  was  the  cause  of  all  her  husband’s  subsequent 
misfortunes.  Her  invincible  spirit,  however,  and  the  resources 
of  her  genius,  supplied  him  with  the  best  means  of  surmount- 
ing many  of  the  difficulties  in  which  she  had  involved  him, 
and  her  loss  at  this  crisis  seemed  to  leave  him  at  once  with- 
out solace  or  support.48 

At  this  period,  he  was  further  embarrassed,  as  will  appear 
in  the  ensuing  chapter,  by  negotiations  for  Ferdinand’s 
marriage,  which  was  to  deprive  him,  in  a great  measure,  of 
his  son’s  cooperation  in  the  struggle  with  his  subjects,  and 
which,  as  he  lamented,  while  he  had  scarcely  three  hundred 
enriques  in  his  coffers,  called  on  him  for  additional  disburse- 
ments. 

As  the  darkest  hour,  however,  is  commonly  said  to  precede 
the  dawning,  so  light  now  seemed  to  break  upon  the  affairs 
of  John.  A physician  in  Lerida  of  the  Hebrew  race,  which 
monopolized  at  that  time  almost  all  the  medical  science  in 
Spain,  persuaded  the  king  to  submit  to  the  then  unusual 
operation  of  couching,  and  succeeded  in  restoring  sight  to 
one  of  his  eyes.  As  the  Jew,  after  the  fashion  of  the  Arabs, 
debased  his  real  science  with  astrology,  he  refused  to  operate 
on  the  other  eye,  since  the  planets,  he  said,  wore  a malignant 
aspect.  But  John’s  rugged  nature  was  insensible  to  the 
timorous  superstitions  of  his  age,  and  he  compelled  the 
physician  to  repeat  his  experiment,  which  in  the  end  proved 
perfectly  successful.  Thus  restored  to  his  natural  faculties, 
the  octogenarian  chief,  for  such  he  might  now  almost  be 
called,  regained  his  wonted  elasticity,  and  prepared  to  resume 
offensive  operations  against  the  enemy  with  all  his  accustomed 
energy.49 

Heaven,  too,  as  if  taking  compassion  on  his  accumulated 
misfortunes,  now  removed  the  principal  obstacle  to  his  suc- 
cess by  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Lorraine,  who  was  sum- 
moned from  the  theatre  of  his  short-lived  triumphs  on  the 
16th  of  December,  1469.  The  Barcelonians  were  thrown 


IOO 


REIGN  OF  JOHN  II.,  OF  ARAGON. 


into  the  greatest  consternation  by  his  death,  imputed,  as 
usual,  though  without  apparent  foundation,  to  poison;  and 
their  respect  for  his  memory  was  attested  by  the  honors  no 
less  than  royal,  which  they  paid  to  his  remains.  His  body 
sumptuously  attired,  with  his  victorious  sword  by  his  side, 
was  paraded  in  solemn  procession  through  the  illuminated 
streets  of  the  city,  and,  after  lying  nine  days  in  state,  was 
deposited  amid  the  lamentations  of  the  people  in  the  sepul- 
chre of  the  sovereigns  of  Catalonia.50 

As  the  father  of  the  deceased  prince  was  too  old,  and  his 
children  too  young,  to  give  effectual  aid  to  their  cause,  the 
Catalans  might  be  now  said  to  be  again  without  a leader. 
But  their  spirit  was  unbroken,  and  with  the  same  resolution 
in  which  they  refused  submission  more  than  two  centuries 
after,  in  1714,  when  the  combined  forces  of  France  and 
Spain  were  at  the  gates  of  the  capital,  they  rejected  the 
conciliatory  advances  made  them  anew  by  John.  That 
monarch,  however,  having  succeeded  by  extraordinary  efforts 
in  assembling  a competent  force,  was  proceeding  with  his 
usual  alacrity  in  the  reduction  of  such  places  in  the  eastern 
quarter  of  Catalonia  as  had  revolted  to  the  enemy,  while  at 
the  same  time  he  instituted  a rigorous  blockade  of  Barcelona 
by  sea  and  land.  The  fortifications  were  strong,  and  the 
king  was  unwilling  to  expose  so  fair  a city  to  the  devastating 
horrors  of  a storm  The  inhabitants  made  one  vigorous 
effort  in  a sally  against  the  royal  forces;  but  the  civic  militia 
were  soon  broken,  and  the  loss  of  four  thousand  men,  killed 
and  prisoners,  admonished  them  of  their  inability  to  cope 
with  the  veterans  of  Aragon.51 

At  length,  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  they  consented 
to  enter  into  negotiations,  which  were  concluded  by  a treaty 
equally  honorable  to  both  parties.  It  was  stipulated,  that 
Barcelona  should  retain  all  its  ancient  privileges  and  rights 
of  jurisdiction,  and,  with  some  exceptions,  its  large  territorial 
possessions.  A general  amnesty  was  to  be  granted  for 
offences.  The  foreign  mercenaries  were  to  be  allowed  to 
depart  in  safety;  and  such  of  the  natives  as  should  refuse  to 
renew  their  allegiance  to  their  ancient  sovereign  within  a 
year,  might  have  the  liberty  of  removing  with  their  effects 
wherever  they  would.  One  provision  may  be  thought  some- 
what singular,  after  what  had  occurred;  it  was  agreed  that 
the  king  should  cause  the  Barcelonians  to  be  publicly  pro- 
claimed, throughout  all  his  dominions,  good,  faithful,  and 
loyal  subjects;  which  was  accordingly  done! 

The  king,  after  the  adjustment  of  the  preliminaries,  “de- 


MINORITY  OF  FERDINAND. 


IOI 


dining,”  says  a contemporary,  “the  triumphal  car  which  had 
been  prepared  for  him,  made  his  entrance  into  the  city  by 
the  gate  of  St.  Antony,  mounted  on  a white  charger;  and, 
as  he  rode  along  the  principal  streets,  the  sight  of  so  many 
pallid  countenances  and  emaciated  figures,  bespeaking  the 
extremity  of  famine,  smote  his  heart  with  sorrow.”  He  then 
proceeded  to  the  hall  of  the  great  palace,  and  on  the  22d  of 
December,  1472,  solemnly  swore  there  to  respect  the  consti- 
tution and  laws  of  Catalonia.52 

Thus' ended  this  long,  disastrous  civil  war,  the  fruit  of 
parental  injustice  and  oppression,  which  had  nearly  cost  the 
king  of  Aragon  the  fairest  portion  of  his  dominions;  which 
devoted  to  disquietude  and  disappointment  more  than  ten 
years  of  life,  at  a period  when  repose  is  most  grateful;  and 
which  opened  the  way  to  foreign  wars,  that  continued  to 
hang  like  a dark  cloud  over  the  evening  of  his  days.  It  was 
attended,  however,  with  one  important  result;  that  of  estab- 
lishing Ferdinand’s  succession  over  the  whole  of  the  domains 
of  his  ancestors. 


CHAPTER  III. 


REIGN  OF  HENRY  IV.,  OF  CASTII.E. CIVIL  WAR. MARRIAGE 

OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

I454—I469- 

Henry  IV.  disappoints  Expectations. — Oppression  of  the  People. — League 
of  the  Nobles. — Extraordinary  Scene  at  Avila. — Early  Education  of 
Isabella. — Death  of  her  Brother  Alfonso. — Intestine  Anarchy. — The 
Crown  offered  to  Isabella. — She  declines  it. — Her  Suitors. — She  ac- 
cepts Ferdinand  of  Aragon. — Marriage  Articles  — Critical  Situation  of 
Isabella. — Ferdinand  enters  Castile. — Their  Marriage. 

While  these  stormy  events  were  occurring  in  Aragon,  the 
Infanta  Isabella,  whose  birth  was  mentioned  at  the  close  of 
the  first  chapter,  was  passing  her  youth  amidst  scenes 
scarcely  less  tumultuous.  At  the  date  of  her  birth,  her 
prospect  of  succeeding  to  the  throne  of  her  ancestors  was 
even  more  remote  than  Ferdinand’s  prospect  of  inheriting 
that  of  his;  and  it  is  interesting  to  observe  through  what 
trials,  and  by  what  a series  of  remarkable  events,  Providence 
was  pleased  to  bring  about  this  result,  and  through  it  the 
union,  so  long  deferred,  of  the  great  Spanish  monarchies. 

The  accession  of  her  elder  brother,  Henry  the  Fourth, 
was  welcomed  with  an  enthusiasm,  proportioned  to  the  dis- 
gust which  had  been  excited  by  the  long-protracted  and 
imbecile  reign  of  his  predecessor.  Some  few,  indeed,  who 
looked  back  to  the  time  when  he  was  arrayed  in  arms  against 
his  father,  distrusted  the  soundness  either  of  his  principles 
or  of  his  judgment.  But  far  the  larger  portion  of  the  nation 
was  disposed  to  refer  this  to  inexperience,  or  the  ebullition 
of  youthful  spirit,  and  indulged  the  cheering  anticipations 
which  are  usually  entertained  of  a new  reign  and  a young 
monarch.1  Henry  was  distinguished  by  a benign  temper, 
and  by  a condescension  which  might  be  called  familiarity,  in 
his  intercourse  with  his  inferiors,  virtues  peculiarly  engaging 
in  persons  of  his  elevated  station;  and  as  vices,  which  wear 
the  gloss  of  youth,  are  not  only  pardoned,  but  are  oftentimes 
popular  with  the  vulgar,  the  reckless  extravagance  in  which 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  103 

he  indulged  himself  was  favorably  contrasted  with  the  severe 
parsimony  of  his  father  in  his  latter  years,  and  gained  him 
the  surname  of  “the  Liberal.”  His  treasurer  having  remon- 
strated with  him  on  the  prodigality  of  his  expenditure,  he 
replied;  “Kings,  instead  of  hoarding  treasure  like  private 
persons,  are  bound  to  dispense  it  for  the  happiness  of  their 
subjects.  We  must  give  to  our  enemies  to  make  them 
friends,  and  to  our  friends  to  keep  them  so.”  He  suited 
the  action  so  well  to  the  word,  that,  in  a few  years,  there 
was  scarcely  a maravedi  remaining  in  the  royal  coffers.2 

He  maintained  greater  state  than  was  usual  with  the  mon- 
archs  of  Castile,  keeping  in  pay  a body-guard  of  thirty-six 
hundred  lances,  splendidly  equipped,  and  officered  by  the 
sons  of  the  nobility.  He  proclaimed  a crusade  against  the 
Moors,  a measure  always  popular  in  Castile;  assuming  the 
pomegranate  branch,  the  device  of  Granada,  on  the  escutch- 
eon, in  token  of  his  intention  to  extirpate  the  Moslems 
from  the  Peninsula.  He  assembled  the  chivalry  of  the  re- 
mote povinces;  and,  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign,  scarce  a 
year  elapsed  without  one  or  more  incursions  into  the  hostile 
territory,  with  armies  of  thirty  or  forty  thousand  men.  The 
results  did  not  correspond  with  the  magnificence  of  the  ap- 
paratus; and  these  brilliant  expeditions  too  often  evaporated 
in  a mere  border  foray,  or  in  an  empty  gasconade  under  the 
walls  of  Granada.  Orchards  were  cut  down,  harvests  plun- 
dered, villages  burnt  to  the  ground,  and  all  the  other  modes 
of  annoyance  peculiar  to  this  barbarous  warfare,  put  in  prac- 
tice by  the  invading  armies  as  they  swept  over  the  face  of 
the  country;  individual  feats  of  prowess,  too,  commemorated 
in  the  romantic  ballads  of  the  time,  were  achieved;  but  no 
victory  was  gained,  no  important  post  acquired.  The  king 
in  vain  excused  his  hasty  retreats  and  abortive  enterprises, 
by  saying,  “that  he  prized  the  life  of  one  of  his  soldiers, 
more  than  those  of  a thousand  Mussulmans.”  His  troops 
murmured  at  this  timorous  policy,  and  the  people  of  the 
south,  on  whom  the  charges  of  the  expeditions  fell  with 
peculiar  heaviness,  from  their  neighborhood  to  the  scene  of 
operations,  complained  that  “the  war  was  carried  on  against 
them,  not  against  the  infidel.”  On  one  occasion  an  attempt 
was  made  to  detain  the  king’s  person,  and  thus  prevent  him 
from  disbanding  his  forces.  So  soon  had  the  ro)^al  authority 
fallen  into  contempt!  The  king  of  Granada  himself,  when 
summoned  to  pay  tribute  after  a series  of  these  ineffectual 
operations,  replied  “that,  in  the  first  years  of  Henry’s  reign, 
he  would  have  offered  any  thing,  even  his  children,  to 


104 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


preserve  peace  to  his  dominions;  but  now  he  would  give 
nothing/’ 3 

The  contempt,  to  which  the  king  exposed  himself  by  his 
public  conduct,  was  still  further  heightened  by  his  domestic. 
With  even  greater  indisposition  to  business,  than  was  mani- 
fested by  his  father,4  he  possessed  none  of  the  cultivated 
tastes,  which  were  the  redeeming  qualities  of  the  latter. 
Having  been  addicted  from  his  earliest  youth  to  debauchery, 
when  he  had  lost  the  powers,  he  retained  all  the  relish,  for 
the  brutish  pleasures  of  a voluptuary.  He  had  repudiated 
his  wife,  Blanche  of  Aragon,  after  a union  of  twelve  years,  on 
grounds  sufficiently  ridiculous  and  humiliating.6  In  1455, 
he  espoused  Joanna,  a Portugese  princess,  sister  of  Alfonso 
the  Fifth,  the  reigning  monarch.  This  lady,  then  in  the  bloom 
of  youth,  was  possessed  of  personal  graces  and  a lively  wit 
which,  say  the  historians,  made  her  the  delight  of  the  court 
of  Portugal.  She  was  accompanied  by  a brilliant  train  of 
maidens,  and  her  entrance  into  Castile  was  greeted  by  the 
festivities  and  military  pageants  which  belong  to  an  age  of 
chivalry.  The  light  and  lively  manners  of  the  young  queen, 
however,  which  seemed  to  defy  the  formal  etiquette  of  the 
Castilian  court,  gave  occasion  to  the  grossest  suspicions.  The 
tongue  of  scandal  indicated  Beltran  de  la  Cueva,  one  of  the 
handsomest  cavaliers  in  the  kingdom,  and  then  newly  risen 
in  the  royal  graces,  as  the  person  to  whom  she  most  liberally 
dispensed  her  favors.  This  knight  defended  a passage  of 
arms,  in  presence  of  the  court,  near  Madrid,  in  which  he 
maintained  the  superior  beauty  of  his  mistress,  against  all 
comers.  The  king  was  so  delighted  with  his  prowess,  that 
he  commemorated  the  event  by  the  erection  of  a monastery 
dedicated  to  St.  Jerome;  a whimsical  origin  for  a religious 
institution.6 

The  queen’s  levity  might  have  sought  some  justification 
in  the  unveiled  licentiousness  of  her  husband.  One  of  the 
maids  of  honor,  whom  she  brought  in  her  train,  acquired  an 
ascendency  over  Henry,  which  he  did  not  attempt  to  disguise; 
and  the  palace,,  after  the  exhibition  of  the  most  disgraceful 
scenes,  became  divided  by  factions  of  the  hostile  fair  ones. 
The  archbishop  of  Seville  did  not  blush  to  espouse  the 
cause  of  the  paramour,  who  maintained  a magnificence  of 
state,  which  rivalled  that  of  royalty  itself.  The  public  were 
still  more  scandalized  by  Henry’s  sacrilegious  intrusion  of 
another  of  his  mistresses  into  the  post  of  abbess  of  a convent 
in  Toledo,  after  the  expulsion  of  her  predecessor,  a lady  of 
noble  rank  and  irreproachable  character.7 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  105 

The  stream  of  corruption  soon  finds  its  way  from  the  higher 
to  the  more  humble  walks  of  life.  The  middling  classes,  imi- 
tating their  superiors,  indulged  in  an  excess  of  luxury  equally 
demoralizing,  and  ruinous  to  their  fortunes.  The  contagion 
of  example  infected  even  the  higher  ecclessiastics;  and  we 
find  the  archbishop  of  St.  James  hunted  from  his  see  by  the 
indignant  populace,  in  consequence  of  an  outrage  attempted 
on  a youthful  bride,  as  she  was  returning  from  church,  after 
the  performance  of  the  nuptial  ceremony.  The  rights  of  the 
people  could  be  but  little  consulted,  or  cared  for,  in  a court 
thus  abandoned  to  unbounded  license.  Accordingly  we  find 
a repetition  of  most  of  the  unconstitutional  and  oppressive 
acts  which  occurred  under  John  the  Second,  of  Castile; 
attempts  at  arbitrary  taxation,  interference  in  the  freedom  of 
elections,  and  in  the  right  exercised  by  the  cities  of  nominat- 
ing the  commanders  of  such  contingents  of  troops,  as  they 
might  contribute  to  the  public  defence.  Their  territories 
were  repeatedly  alienated,  and,  as  well  as  the  immense  sums 
raised  by  the  sale  of  papal  indulgences  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  Moorish  war,  were  lavished  on  the  royal  satellites.8 

But,  perhaps,  the  most  crying  evil  of  this  period  was  the 
shameless  adulteration  of  the  coin.  Instead  of  five  royal  mints, 
which  formerly  existed,  there  were  now  one  hundred  and  fifty 
in  the  hands  of  authorized  individuals,  who  debased  the  coin 
to  such  a deplorable  extent,  that  the  most  common  articles 
of  life  were  enhanced  in  value  three,  four,  and  even  six  fold. 
Those  who  owed  debts  eagerly  anticipated  the  season  of  pay- 
ment; and,  as  the  creditors  refused  to  accept  it  in  the  depre- 
ciated currency,  it  became  a fruitful  source  of  litigation  and 
tumult,  until  the  whole  nation  seemed  on  the  verge  of  bank- 
ruptcy. In  this  general  license,  the  right  of  the  strongest 
was  the  only  one  which  could  make  itself  heard.  The  no- 
bles, converting  their  castles  into  dens  of  robbers,  plundered 
the  property  of  the  traveller,  which  was  afterwards  sold  pub- 
licly in  the  cities.  One  of  these  robber  chieftains,  who  held 
an  important  command  on  the  frontiers  of  Murcia,  was  in 
the  habit  of  carrying  on  an  infamous  traffic  with  the  Moors 
by  selling  to  them  as  slaves  the  Christian  prisoners  of  either 
sex,  whom  he  had  captured  in  his  marauding  expeditions. 
When  subdued  by  Henry,  after  a sturdy  resistance,  he  was 
again  received  into  favor,  and  reinstated  in  his  possessions. 
The  pusillanimous  monarch  knew  neither  when  to  pardon, 
nor  when  to  punish.9 

But  no  part  of  Henry’s  conduct  gave  such  umbrage  to  his 
nobles,  as  the  facility  with  which  he  resigned  himself  to  the 


io  6 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


control  of  favorites,  whom  he  had  created  as  it  were  from 
nothing,  and  whom  he  advanced  over  the  heads  of  the 
ancient  aristocracy  of  the  land.  Among  those  especially 
disgusted  by  this  proceeding,  were  Juan  Pacheco,  marquis 
of  Villena,  and  Alfonso  Carillo,  archbishop  of  Toledo. 
These  two  personages  exercised  so  important  an  influence 
over  the  destinies  of  Henry,  as  to  deserve  more  particular 
notice.  The  former  was  of  noble  Portugese  extraction,  and 
originally  a page  in  the  service  of  the  constable  Alvaro  de 
Luna,  by  whom  he  had  been  introduced  into  the  household 
of  Piince  Henry,  during  the  lifetime  of  John  the  Second. 
His  polished  and  plausible  address  soon  acquired  him  a 
complete  ascendency  over  the  feeble  mind  of  his  master, 
who  was  guided  by  his  pernicious  counsels,  in  his  frequent 
dissensions  with  his  father.  His  invention  was  ever  busy  in 
devising  intrigues,  which  he  recommended  by  his  subtile, 
insinuating  eloquence;  and  he  seemed  to  prefer  the  attain- 
ment of  his  purposes  by  a crooked  rather  than  by  a direct 
policy,  even  when  the  latter  might  equally  well  have  an- 
swered. He  sustained  reverses  with  imperturbable  com- 
posure; and,  when  his  schemes  were  most  successful,  he  was 
willing  to  risk  all  for  the  excitement  of  a new  revolution. 
Although  naturally  humane,  and  without  violent  or  revenge- 
ful passions,  his  restless  spirit  was  perpetually  involving  his 
country  in  all  the  disasters  of  civil  war.  He  was  created 
marquis  of  Villena,  by  John  the  Second;  and  his  ample 
domains,  lying  on  the  confines  of  Toledo,  Murcia,  and  Va- 
lencia, and  embracing  an  immense  extent  of  populous  and 
well  fortified  territory,  made  him  the  most  powerful  vassal  in 
the  kingdom.10 

His  uncle,  the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  was  of  a sterner  char- 
acter. He  was  one  of  those  turbulent  prelates,  not  nnfre- 
quent  in  a rude  age,  who  seem  intended  by  nature  for  the 
camp  rather  than  the  church.  He  was  fierce,  haughty,  in- 
tractable; and  he  was  supported  in  the  execution  of  his  am- 
bitious enterprises,  no  less  by  his  undaunted  resolution,  than 
by  the  extraordinary  resources,  which  he  enjoyed  as  primate 
of  Spain.  He  was  capable  of  warm  attachments,  and  of 
making  great  personal  sacrifices  for  his  friends,  from  whom, 
in  return,  he  exacted  the  most  implicit  deference;  and,  as 
he  was  both  easily  offended  and  implacable  in  his  resentments, 
he  seems  to  have  been  almost  equally  formidable  as  a friend 
and  as  an  enemy.11 

These  early  adherents  of  Henry,  little  satisfied  with  seeing 
their  own  consequence  eclipsed  by  the  rising  glories  of  the 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  107 

riewly-ereated  favorites,  began  secretly  to  stir  up  cabals  and 
confederacies  among  the  nobles,  until  the  occurrence  of  other 
circumstances  obviated  the  necessity,  and  indeed  the  possi- 
bility, of  further  dissimulation.  Henry  had  been  persuaded 
to  take  part  in  the  internal  dissensions  which  then  agitated 
the  kingdom  of  Aragon,  and  had  supported  the  Catalans  in 
their  opposition  to  their  sovereign  by  seasonable  supplies  of 
men  and  money.  He  had  even  made  some  considerable  con- 
quests for  himself,  when  he  was  induced,  by  the  advice  of  the 
marquis  of  Villena  and  the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  to  refer 
the  arbitration  of  his  differences  with  the  king  of  Aragon  to 
Louis  the  Eleventh,  of  France;  a monarch  whose  habitual 
policy  allowed  him  to  refuse  no  opportunity  of  interference 
in  the  concerns  of  his  neighbors. 

The  conferences  were  conducted  at  Bayonne,  and  an  in- 
terview was  subsequently  agreed  on  between  the  kings  of 
France  and  Castile,  to  be  held  near  that  city,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Bidassoa,  which  divides  the  dominions  of  the  respective 
monarchs.  The  contrast  exhibited  by  the  two  princes  at 
this  interview,  in  their  style  of  dress  and  equipage,  was  suffi- 
ciently striking  to  deserve  notice.  Louis,  who  was  even 
worse  attired  than  usual,  according  to  Comines,  wore  a coat 
of  coarse  wollen  cloth  cut  short,  a fashion  then  deemed  very 
unsuitable  to  persons  of  rank,  with  a doublet  of  fustian,  and 
a weather-beaten  hat,  surmounted  by  a little  leaden  image  of 
the  Virgin.  His  imitative  courtiers  adopted  a similar  costume. 
The  Castlians,  on  the  other  hand,  displayed  uncommon 
magnificence.  The  barge  of  the  royal  favorite,  Beltran  de 
la  Cueva,  was  resplendant  with  sails  of  cloth  of  gold,  and 
his  apparel  glittered  with  a profusion  of  costly  jewels.  Henry 
was  ecorted  by  his  Moorish  guard  gorgeously  equipped,  and 
the  cavaliers  of  his  train  vied  with  each  other  in  the  sump- 
tuous decorations  of  dress  and  equipage.  The  two  nations 
appear  to  have  been  mutually  disgusted  with  the  contrast  ex- 
hibited by  their  opposite  affectations.  The  French  sneered 
at  the  ostentation  of  the  Spaniards,  and  the  latter,  in  their 
turn,  derided  the  sordid  parsimony  of  their  neighbors;  and 
thus  the  seeds  of  a national  aversion  were  inplanted,  which, 
under  the  influence  of  more  inportant  circumstances,  ripened 
into  open  hostility.12 

The  monarchs  seem  to  have  separated  with  as  little  esteem 
for  each  other  as  did  their  respective  courtiers;  and  Comines 
profits  by  the  occasion  to  inculcate  the  inexpediency  of  such 
interviews  between  princes,  who  have  exchanged  the  careless 
jollity  of  youth  for  the  cold  and  calculating  policy  of  riper 


io8 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


years.  The  award  of  Louis  dissatisfied  all  parties;  a tolerable 
proof  of  its  impartiality.  The  Castilians,  in  particular,  com- 
plained that  the  marquis  of  Villena  and  the  archbishop  of 
Toledo  had  compromised  the  honor  of  the  nation,  by  allow- 
ing their  sovereign  to  cross  over  to  the  French  shore  of  the 
Bidassoa,  and  its  interests,  by  the  cession  of  the  conquered 
territory  to  Aragon.  They  loudly  accused  them  of  being 
pensionaries  of  Louis,  a fact  which  does  not  appear  improb- 
able, considering  the  usual  policy  of  this  prince,  who,  as  is 
well  known,  maintained  an  espionage  over  the  councils  of 
most  of  his  neighbors.  Henry  was  so  far  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  these  imputations,  that  he  dismissed  the  obnoxious 
ministers  from  their  employments.13 

The  disgraced  nobles  instantly  set  about  the  organization 
of  one  of  those  formidable  confederacies,  which  had  so  often 
shaken  the  monarchs  of  Castile  upon  their  throne,  and  which, 
although  not  authorized  by  positive  law,  as  in  Aragon,  seem 
to  have  derived  somewhat  of  a constitutional  sanction  from 
ancient  usage.  Some  of  the  members  of  this  coalition  were 
doubtless  influenced  exclusively  by  personal  jealousies;  but 
many  others  entered  into  it  from  disgust  at  the  imbecile  and 
arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  crown. 

In  1462,  the  queen  had  been  delivered  of  a daughter,  who 
was  named  like  herself  Joanna,  but  who,  from  her  reputed 
father,  Beltran  de  la  Cueva,  was  better  known  in  the  progress 
of  her  unfortunate  history  by  the  cognomen  of  Beltraneja. 
Henry,  however,  had  required  the  usual  oath  of  allegiance 
to  be  tendered  to  her  as  presumptive  heir  to  the  crown. 
The  confederates,  assembled  at  Burgos,  declared  this  oath  of 
fealty  a compulsory  act,  and  that  many  of  them  had  privately 
protested  against  it  at  the  time,  from  a conviction  of  the 
illegitimacy  of  Joanna.  I11  the  bill  of  grievances,  which  they 
now  presented  to  the  monarch,  they  required  that  he  should 
deliver  his  brother  Alfonso  into  their  hands,  to  be  publicly 
acknowledged  as  his  successor;  they  enumerated  the  manifold 
abuses,  which  pervaded  every  department  of  government, 
which  they  freely  imputed  to  the  unwholesome  influence  exer- 
cised by  the  favorite,  Beltran  de  la  Cueva,  over  the  royal 
counsels,  doubtless  the  true  key  to  much  of  their  patriotic 
sensibility;  and  they  entered  into  a covenant,  sanctioned  by 
all  the  solemnities  of  religion  usual  on  these  occasions,  not 
to  reenter  the  service  of  their  sovereign,  or  accept  any  favor 
from  him  until  he  had  redressed  their  wrongs.14 

The  king,  who  by  an  efficient  policy  might  perhaps  have 
crushed  these  revolutionary  movements  in  their  birth,  was 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  IO9 

naturally  averse  to  violent  or  even  vigorous  measures.  He 
replied  to  the  bishop  of  Cuencpa,  his  ancient  preceptor,  who 
recommended  these  measures;  “You  priests,  who  are  not 
called  to  engage  in  the  fight,  are  very  liberal  of  the  blood. of 
others.”  To  which  the  prelate  rejoined,  with  more  warmth 
than  breeding,  “Since  you  are  not  true  to  your  own  honor, 
at  a time  like  this,  I shall  live  to  see  you  the  most  degraded 
monarch  in  Spain;  when  you  will  repent  too  late  this  unsea- 
sonable pusillanimity.”  15 

Henry,  unmoved  either  by  the  entreaties  or  remonstrances 
of  his  adherents,  resorted  to  the  milder  method  of  negotia- 
tion. He  consented  to  an  interview  with  the  confederates, 
in  which  he  was  induced,  by  the  plausible  arguments  of  the 
marquis  of  Villena,  to  comply  with  most  of  their  demands. 
He  delivered  his  brother  Alfonso  into  their  hands,  to  be 
recognized  as  the  lawful  heir  to  the  crown,  on  condition  of 
his  subsequent  union  with  Joanna;  and  he  agreed  to  nomi- 
nate, in  conjunction  with  his  opponents,  a commission  of 
five,  who  should  deliberate  on  the  state  of  the  kingdom,  and 
provide  an  effectual  reform  of  abuses.16  The  result  of  this 
deliberation,  however,  proved  so  prejudicial  to  the  royal 
authority,  that  the  feeble  monarch  was  easily  persuaded  to 
disavow  the  proceedings  of  the  commissioners,  on  the  ground 
of  their  secret  collusion  with  his  enemies,  and  even  to  attempt 
the  seizure  of  their  persons.  The  confederates,  disgusted 
with  this  breach  of  faith,  and  in  pursuance,  perhaps,  of  their 
original  design,  instantly  decided  on  the  execution  of  that 
bold  measure,  which  some  writers  denounce  as  a flagrant  act 
of  rebellion  and  others  vindicate  as  a just  and  constitutional 
proceeding. 

In  an  open  plain,  not  far  from  the  city  of  Avila,  they 
caused  a scaffold  to  be  erected,  of  sufficient  elevation  to  be 
easily  seen  from  the  surrounding  country.  A chair  of  state 
was  placed  on  it,  and  in  this  was  seated  an  effigy  of  King 
Henry,  clad  in  sable  robes  and  adorned  with  all  the  insignia 
of  royalty,  a sword  at  its  side,  a sceptre  in  its  hand,  and  a 
crown  upon  its  head.  A manifesto  was  then  read,  exhibiting 
in  glowing  colors  the  tyrannical  conduct  of  the  king,  and  the 
consequent  determination  to  depose  him;  and  vindicating 
the  proceeding  by  several  precedents  drawn  from  the  history 
of  the  monarchy.  The  archbishop  of  Toledo  then  ascending 
the  platform,  tore  the  diadem  from  the  head  of  the  statue; 
the  marquis  of  Villena  removed  the  sceptre,  the  count  of 
Placencia  the  sword,  the  grand  master  of  Alcantara  and 
the  counts  of  Benavente  and  Paredes  the  rest  of  the  regal 


no 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


insignia;  when  the  image,  thus  despoiled  of  its  honors,  was 
rolled  in  the  dust,  amid  the  mingled  groans  and  clamors  of 
the  spectators.  The  young  prince  Alfonso,  at  that  time  only 
eleven  years  of  age,  was  seated  on  the  vacant  throne,  and 
the  assembled  grandees  severally  kissed  his  hand  in  token  of 
their  homage;  the  trumpets  announced  the  completion  of 
the  ceremony,  and  the  populace  greeted  with  joyful  accla- 
mations the  accession  of  their  new  sovereign.17 

Such  are  the  details  of  this  extraordinary  transaction,  as 
recorded  by  the  two  contemporary  historians  of  the  rival 
factions.  The  tidings  were  borne,  with  the  usual  celerity  of 
evil  news,  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  kingdom.  The  pulpit 
and  the  forum  resounded  with  the  debates  of  disputants, 
who  denied,  or  defended,  the  right  of  the  subject  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  the  conduct  of  his  sovereign.  Every  man  was 
compelled  to  choose  his  side  in  this  strange  division  of  the 
kingdom.  Henry  received  intelligence  of  the  defection, 
successively,  of  the  capital  cities  of  Burgos,  Toledo,  Cordova, 
Seville,  together  with  a large  part  of  the  southern  provinces, 
where  lay  the  estates  of  some  of  the  most  powerful  partisans 
of  the  opposite  faction.  The  unfortunate  monarch,  thus 
deserted  by  his  subjects,  abandoned  himself  to  despair,  and 
expressed  the  extremity  of  his  anguish  in  the  strong  language 
of  Job:  “Naked  came  I from  my  mother's  womb,  and  naked 
must  I go  down  to  the  earth!”  18 

A large,  probably  the  larger  part  of  the  nation,  however, 
disapproved  of  the  tumultuous  proceedings  of  the  confede- 
rates. However  much  they  contemned  the  person  of  the 
monarch,  they  were  not  prepared  to  see  the  royal  authority 
thus  openly  degraded.  They  indulged,  too,  some  compas- 
sion for  a prince,  whose  political  vices,  at  least,  were  imput- 
able to  mental  incapacity,  and  to  evil  counsellors,  rather  than 
to  any  natural  turpitude  of  heart.  Among  the  nobles  who 
adhered  to  him,  the  most  conspicuous  were  “the  good  count 
of  Haro,”  and  the  powerful  family  of  Mendoza,  the  worthy 
scions  of  an  illustrious  stock.  The  estates  of  the  marquis  cf 
Santillana,  the  head  of  this  house,  lay  chiefly  in  the  Asturias, 
and  gave  him  a considerable  influence  in  the  northern  pro- 
vinces ,19  the  majority  of  whose  inhabitants  remained  constant 
in  their  attachment  to  the  royal  cause. 

When  Henry’s  summons,  therefore,  was  issued  for  the 
attendance  of  all  his  loyal  subjects  capable  of  bearing  arms, 
it  was  answered  by  a formidable  array  of  numbers,  that 
must  have  greatly  exceeded  that  of  his  rival,  and  which  is 
swelled  by  his  biographer  to  seventy  thousand  foot  and  four- 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA 


III 


teen  thousand  horse;  a much  smaller  force,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  an  efficient  leader,  would  doubtless  have  sufficed  to 
extinguish  the  rising  spirit  of  revolt.  But  Henry’s  temper 
led  him  to  adopt  a more  conciliatory  policy,  and  to  try  what 
could  be  effected  by  negotiation,  before  resorting  to  arms. 
In  the  former,  however,  he  was  no  match  for  the  confeder- 
ates, or  rather  the  marquis  of  Villena,  their  representative 
on  these  occasions.  This  nobleman,  who  had  so  zealously 
cooperated  with  his  party  in  conferring  the  title  of  king  on 
Alfonso,  had  intended  to  reserve  the  authority  to  himself. 
He  probably  found  more  difficulty  in  controlling  the  opera- 
tions of  the  jealous  and  aspiring  aristocracy,  with  whom  he 
was  associated,  than  he  had  imagined;  and  he  was  willing  to 
aid  the  opposite  party  in  maintaining  a sufficient  degree  of 
strength  to  form  a counterpoise  to  that  of  the  confederates, 
and  thus,  while  he  had  made  his  own  services  the  more 
necessary  to  the  latter,  to  provide  a safe  retreat  for  him- 
self, in  case  of  the  shipwreck  of  their  fortunes.20 

In  conformity  with  this  dubious  policy,  he  had,  soon  after 
the  occurrence  at  Avila,  opened  a secret  correspondence  with 
his  former  master,  and  suggested  to  him  the  idea  of  terminat- 
ing their  differences  by  some  amicable  adjustment.  In  con- 
sequence of  these  intimations,  Henry  consented  to  enter  into 
a negotiation  with  his  confederates;  and  it  was  agreed,  that 
the  forces  on  both  sides  should  be  disbanded,  and  that  a 
suspension  of  hostilities  for  six  months  should  take  place, 
during  which  some  definite  and  permanent  scheme  of  recon- 
ciliation might  be  devised.  Henry,  in  compliance  with  this 
arrangement,  instantly  disbanded  his  levies;  they  retired  over- 
whelmed with  indignation  at  the  conduct  of  their  sovereign, 
who  so  readliy  relinquished  the  only  means  of  redress  that 
he  possessed,  and  whom  they  now  saw  it  would  be  unavailing 
to  assist,  since  he  was  so  ready  to  desert  himself.21 

It  would  be  an  unprofitable  task  to  attempt  to  unravel  all 
the  fine  spun  intrigues,  by  which  the  marquis  of  Villena  con- 
trived to  defeat  every  attempt  at  an  ultimate  accommodation 
between  the  parties,  until  he  was  very  generally  execrated 
as  the  real  source  of  the  disturbances  in  the  kingdom.  In 
the  mean  while,  the  singular  spectacle  was  exhibited  of  two 
monarchs  presiding  over  one  nation,  surrounded  by  their 
respective  courts,  administering  the  laws,  convoking  cortes, 
and  in  fine  assuming  the  state  and  exercising  all  the  func- 
tions of  sovereignty.  It  was  apparent  that  this  state  of 
things  could  not  last  long;  and  that  the  political  ferment, 
which  now  agitated  the  minds  of  men  from  one  extremity  of 


1 1 2 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


the  kingdom  to  the  other,  and  which  occasionally  displayed 
itself  in  tumults  and  acts  of  violence,  would  soon  burst  forth 
with  all  the  horrors  of  a civil  war. 

At  this  juncture,  a proposition  was  made  to  Henry  for 
detaching  the  powerful  family  of  Pacheco  from  the  interests 
of  the  confederates,  by  the  marriage  of  his  sister  Isabella 
with  the  brother  of  the  marquis  ofVillena,  Don  Pedro  Giron, 
grand  master  of  the  order  of  Calatrava,  a nobleman  of  aspir- 
ing views,  and  one  of  the  most  active  partisans  of  his  faction. 
The  archbishop  of  Toledo  would  naturally  follow  the  fortunes 
of  his  nephew,  and  thus  the  league,  deprived  of  its  principal 
supports,  must  soon  crumble  to  pieces.  Instead  of  resenting 
this  proposal  as  an  affront  upon  his  honor,  the  abject  mind 
of  Henry  was  content  to  purchase  repose  even  by  the  most 
humiliating  sacrifice.  He  acceded  to  the  conditions;  appli- 
cation was  made  to  Rome  for  a dispensation  from  the  vows 
of  celibacy  imposed  on  the  grand  master  as  the  companion  of 
a religious  order;  and  splendid  preparations  were  instantly 
commenced  for  the  approaching  nuptials.22 

Isabella  was  then  in  her  sixteenth  year.  On  her  father’s 
death,  she  retired  with  her  mother  to  the  little  town  of  Are- 
valo, where,  in  seclusion,  and  far  from  the  voice  of  flattery 
and  falsehood,  she  had  been  permitted  to  unfold  the  natural 
graces  of  mind  and  person,  which  might  have  been  blighted 
in  the  pestilent  atmosphere  of  a court.  Here,  under  the 
maternal  eye,  she  was  carefully  instructed  in  those  lessons 
of  practical  piety,  and  in  the  deep  reverence  for  religion, 
which  distinguished  her  maturer  years.  On  the  birth  of  the 
princess  Joanna,  she  was  removed,  together  with  her  brother 
Alfonso,  by  Henry  to  the  royal  palace,  in  order  more  effect- 
ually to  discourage  the  formation  of  any  faction,  adverse  to 
the  interests  of  his  supposed  daughter.  In  this  abode  of 
pleasure,  surrounded  by  all  the  seductions  most  dazzling  to 
youth,  she  did  not  forget  the  early  lessons,  that  she  had 
imbibed;  and  the  blameless  purity  of  her  conduct  shone  with 
additional  lustre  amid  the  scenes  of  levity  and  licentiousness 
by  which  she  was  surrounded.23 

The  near  connexion  of  Isabella  with  the  crown,  as  well  as 
her  personal  character,  invited  the  application  of  numerous 
suitors.  Her  hand  was  first  solicited  for  that  very  Ferdinand, 
who  was  destined  to  be  her  future  husband,  though  not  till 
after  the  intervention  of  many  inauspicious  circumstances. 
She  was  next  betrothed  to  his  elder  brother,  Carlos;  and 
some  years  after  his  decease,  when  thirteen  years  of  age, 
was  promised  by  Henry  to  Alfonso,  of  Portugal.  Isabella 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  113 

was  present  with  her  brother  at  a personal  interview  with 
that  monarch  in  1464,  but  neither  threats  nor  entreaties 
could  induce  her  to  accede  to  a union  so  unsuitable  from  the 
disparity  of  their  years;  and  with  her  characteristic  discretion, 
even  at  this  early  age,  she  rested  her  refusal  on  the  ground, 
that  “the  infantas  of  Castile  could  not  be  disposed  of  in 
marriage,  without  the  consent  of  the  nobles  of  the  realm/’ 24 

When  Isabella  understood  in  what  manner  she  was  now 
to  be  sacrificed  to  the  selfish  policy  of  her  brother,  in  the 
persecution  of  which,  compulsory  measures  if  necessary 
were  to  be  employed,  she  was  filled  with  the  liveliest  emotions 
of  grief  and  resentment.  The  master  of  Calatrava  was  well 
known  as  a fierce  and  turbulent  leader  of  faction,  and  his 
private  life  was  stained  with  most  of  the  licentious  vices  of 
the  age.  He  was  even  accused  of  having  invaded  the  privacy 
of  the  queen  dowager,  Isabella’s  mother,  by  proposals  of  the 
most  degrading  nature,  an  outrage  which  the  king  had  either 
not  the  power,  or  the  inclination,  to  resent.25  With  this 
person,  then,  so  inferior  to  her  in  birth,  and  so  much  more  un- 
worthy of  her  in  every  other  point  of  view,  Isabella  was  now 
to  be  united.  On  receiving  the  intelligence,  she  confined 
herself  to  her  apartment,  abstaining  from  all  nourishment 
and  sleep  for  a day  and  night,  says  a contemporary  writer, 
and  imploring  Heaven,  in  the  most  piteous  manner  to  save 
her  from  this  dishonor,  by  her  own  death  or  that  of  her 
enemy.  As  she  was  bewailing  her  hard  fate  to  her  faithful 
friend,  Beatriz  de  Bobadilla,  “God  will  not  permit  it,”  ex- 
claimed the  high-spirited  lady,  “neither  will  I;”  then  draw- 
ing forth  a dagger  from  her  bosom,  which  she  kept  there  for 
the  purpose,  she  solemnly  vowed  to  plunge  it  in  the  heart 
of  the  master  of  Calatrava,  as  soon  as  he  appeared!26 

Happily  her  loyalty  was  not  put  to  so  severe  a test.  No 
sooner  had  the  grand  master  received  the  bull  of  dispensation 
from  the  pope,  than,  resigning  his  dignities  in  his  military 
order,  he  set  about  such  sumptuous  preparations  for  his  wed- 
ding, as  were  due  to  the  rank  of  his  intended  bride.  When 
these  were  completed,  he  began  his  journey  from  his  resi- 
dence at  Almagro  to  Madrid,  where  the  nuptial  ceremony 
was  to  be  performed,  attended  by  a splendid  retinue  of  friends 
and  followers.  But,  on  the  very  first  evening  after  his  de- 
parture, he  was  attacked  by  an  acute  disorder  while  at  Villa- 
rubia,  a village  not  far  from  Ciudad  Real,  which  terminated 
his  life  in  four  days.  He  died,  says  Palencia,  with  impreca- 
tions on  his  lips,  because  his  life  had  not  been  spared  some 
few  weeks  longer.27  His  death  was  attributed  by  many  to 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


114 

poison,  administered  to  him  by  some  of  the  nobles,  who  were 
envious  of  his  good  fortune.  But,  notwithstanding  the  sea- 
sonableness of  the  event,  and  the  familiarity  of  the  crime  in 
that  age,  no  shadow  of  imputation  was  ever  cast  on  the  pure 
fame  of  Isabella.28 

The  death  of  the  grand  master  dissipated,  at  a blow,  all 
the  fine  schemes  of  the  marquis  of  Villena,  as  well  as  every 
hope  of  reconciliation  between  the  parties.  The  passions, 
which  had  been  only  smothered,  now  burst  forth  into  open 
hostility;  and  it  was  resolved  to  refer  the  decision  of  the  ques- 
tion to  the  issue  of  battle.  The  two  armies  met  on  the  plains 
of  Olmedo,  where,  two  and  twenty  years  before,  John,  the 
father  of  Henry,  had  been  in  like  manner  confronted  by  his 
insurgent  subjects.  The  royal  army  was  considerably  the 
larger;  but  the  deficiency  of  numbers  in  the  other  was  amply 
supplied  by  the  intrepid  spirit  of  its  leaders.  The  archbishop 
of  Toledo  appeared  at  the  head  of  its  squadrons,  conspicuous 
by  a rich  scarlet  mantle,  embroidered  with  a white  cross, 
thrown  over  his  armour.  The  young  prince  Alfonso,  scarce- 
ly fourteen  years  of  age,  rode  by  his  side,  clad  like  him  in 
complete  mail.  Before  the  action  commenced,  the  arch- 
bishop sent  a message  to  Beltran  de  la  Cueva,  then  raised 
to  the  title  of  duke  of  Albuquerque,  cautioning  him  not  to 
venture  in  the  field,  as  no  less  than  forty  cavaliers  had  sworn 
his  death.  The  gallant  nobleman,  who,  on  this  as  on  some 
other  occasions,  displayed  a magnanimity,  which  in  some 
degree  excused  the  partiality  of  his  master,  returned  by  the 
envoy  a particular  description  of  the  dress  he  intended  to 
wear;  a chivalrous  defiance,  which  wellnigh  cost  him  his  life. 
Henry  did  not  care  to  expose  his  person  in  the  engagement, 
and,  on  receiving  erroneous  intelligence  of  the  discomfiture 
of  his  party,  retreated  precipitately  with  some  thirty  or  forty 
horsemen  to  the  shelter  of  a neighboring  village.  The  action 
lasted  three  hours,  until  the  combatants  were  separated  by 
the  shades  of  evening,  without  either  party  having  decidedly 
the  advantage,  although  that  of  Henry  retained  possession 
of  the  field  of  battle.  The  archbishop  of  Toledo  and  Prince 
Alfonso  were  the  last  to  retire;  and  the  former  was  seen 
repeatedly  to  rally  his  broken  squadrons,  notwithstanding 
his  arm  had  been  pierced  through  with  a lance  early  in  the 
engagement.  The  king  and  the  prelate  may  be  thought  to 
have  exchanged  characters  in  this  tragedy.29 

The  battle  was  attended  with  no  result,  except  that  of  in- 
spiring appetites,  which  had  tasted  of  blood,  with  a relish 
for  more  unlicensed  carnage.  The  most  frightful  anarchy 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  115 

now  prevailed  throughout  the  kingdom,  dismembered  by 
factions,  which  the  extreme  youth  of  one  monarch  and  the 
imbecility  of  the  other  made  it  impossible  to  control.  In  vain 
did  the  papal  legate,  who  had  received  a commission  to  that 
effect  from  his  master,  interpose  his  mediation,  and  even 
fulminate  sentence  of  excommunication  against  the  confed- 
erates. The  independent  barons  plainly  told  him,  that 
“those,  who  advised  the  pope  that  he  had  a right  to  inter- 
fere in* the  temporal  concerns  of  Castile,  deceived  him;  and 
that  they  had  a perfect  right  to  depose  their  monarch  on 
sufficient  grounds,  and  should  exercise  it.”  30 

Every  city,  nay,  almost  every  family,  became  now  divided 
within  itself.  In  Seville  and  in  Cordova,  the  inhabitants  of 
one  street  carried  on  open  war  against  those  in  another. 
The  churches,  which  were  fortified,  and  occupied  with  bodies 
of  armed  men,  were  many  of  them  sacked  and  burnt  to  the 
ground.  In  Toledo  no  less  than  four  thousand  dwellings 
were  consumed  in  one  general  conflagration.  The  ancient 
family  feuds,  as  those  between  the  great  houses  of  Guzman 
and  Ponce  de  Leon  in  Andalusia,  being  revived,  carried  new 
division  into  the  cities,  whcse  streets  literally  ran  with  blood.31 
In  the  country,  the  nobles  and  gentry,  issuing  from  their 
castles,  captured  the  defenceless  traveller,  who  was  obliged 
to  redeem  his  liberty,  by  the  payment  of  a heavier  ransom 
than  was  exacted  even  by  the  Mahometans.  All  communi- 
cation on  the  high  roads  was  suspended,  and  no  man,  says 
a contemporary,  dared  move  abroad  beyond  the  walls  of  his 
city,  unless  attended  by  an  armed  escort.  The  organization 
of  one  of  those  popular  confederacies,  known  under  the  name 
of  Herniandad , in  1465,  which  continued  in  operation  during 
the  remainder  of  this  gloomy  period,  brought  some  mitigation 
to  these  evils,  by  the  fearlessness,  with  which  it  exercised  its 
functions,  even  against  offenders  of  the  highest  rank,  some 
of  whose  castles  were  razed  to  the  ground  by  its  orders. 
But  this  relief  was  only  partial;  and  the  successful  opposi- 
tion, which  the  Hermandad  sometimes  encountered  on  these 
occasions,  served  to  aggravate  the  horrors  of  the  scene. 
Meanwhile,  fearful  omens,  the  usual  accompaniments  of  such 
troubled  times,  were  witnessed;  the  heated  imagination  in- 
terpreted the  ordinary  operations  of  nature  as  signs  of  celes- 
tial wrath;32  and  the  minds  of  men  were  filled  with  dismal 
bodings  of  some  inevitable  evil,  like  that  which  overwhelmed 
the  monarchy  in  the  days  of  their  Gothic  ancestors.33 

At  this  crisis,  a circumstance  occurred,  which  gave  a new 
face  to  affairs,  and  totally  disconcerted  the  operations  of  the 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


1 16 

the  confederates.  This  was  the  loss  of  their  young  leader, 
Alfonso;  who  was  found  dead  in  his  bed,  on  the  5th  of  July, 
1468,  at  the  village  of  Cardenosa,  about  two  leagues  from 
Avila,  which  had  so  recently  been  the  theatre  of  his  glory. 
His  sudden  death  was  imputed,  in  the  usual  suspicious  tem- 
per of  that  corrupt  age,  to  poison,  supposed  to  have  been 
conveyed  to  him  in  a trout,  on  which  he  dined  the  day  pre- 
ceding. Others  attributed  it  to  the  plague,  which  had  fol- 
lowed in  the  train  of  evils,  that  desolated  this  unhappy  coun- 
try. Thus  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and  after  a brief  reign,  if 
reign  it  may  be  called,  of  three  years,  perished  this  young 
prince,  who,  under  happier  auspices  and  in  maturer  life, 
might  have  ruled  over  his  country  with  a wisdom  equal  to 
that  of  any  of  its  monarchs.  Even  in  the  disadvantageous 
position,  in  which  he  had  been  placed,  he  gave  clear  indica- 
tions of  future  excellence.  A short  time  before  his  death, 
he  was  heard  to  remark,  on  witnessing  the  oppressive  acts  of 
some  of  the  nobles,  “I  must  endure  this  patiently,  until  I am 
a little  older."  On  another  occasion,  being  solicited,  by  the 
citizens  of  Toledo,  to  approve  of  some  act  of  extortion  which 
they  had  committed,  he  replied,  “God  forbid  I should  coun- 
tenance such  injustice!"  And  on  being  told  that  the  city,  in 
that  case,  would  probably  transfer  its  allegiance  to  Henry, 
he  added,  “Much  as  I love  power,  I am  not  willing  to  pur- 
chase it  at  such  a price."  Noble  sentiments,  but  not  at  all 
palatable  to  the  grandees  of  his  party,  who  saw  with  alarm 
that  the  young  lion,  when  he  had  reached  his  strength,  would 
be  likely  to  burst  the  bonds,  with  which  they  had  enthralled 
him.34 

It  is  not  easy  to  consider  the  reign  of  Alfonso  in  any  other 
light,  than  that  of  a usurpation;  although  some  Spanish 
writers,  and  among  the  rest  Marina,  a competent  critic  when 
not  blinded  by  prejudice,  regard  him  as  a rightful  sovereign, 
and  as  such  to  be  enrolled  among  the  monarchs  of  Castile.35 
Marina,  indeed,  admits  the  ceremony  at  Avila  to  have  been 
originally  the  work  of  a faction,  and  in  itself  informal  and 
unconstitutional;  but  he  considers  it  to  have  received  a legi- 
timate sanction  from  its  subsequent  recognition  by  the  peo- 
ple. But  I do  not  find,  that  the  deposition  of  Henry  the 
Fourth  was  ever  confirmed  by  an  act  of  cortes.  He  still  con- 
tinued to  reign  with  the  consent  of  a large  portion,  probably 
the  majority,  of  his  subjects;  and  it  is  evident  that  proceed- 
ings, so  irregular  as  those  at  Avila,  could  have  no  pretence 
to  constitutional  validity,  without  a very  general  expression 
of  approbation  on  the  part  of  the  nation. 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  117 

The  leaders  of  the  confederates  were  thrown  into  conster- 
nation by  an  event,  which  threatened  to  dissolve  their  league, 
and  to  leave  them  exposed  to  the  resentment  of  an  offended 
sovereign.  In  this  conjuncture,  they  naturally  turned  their 
eyes  on  Isabella,  whose  dignified  and  commanding  character 
might  counterbalance  the  disadvantages  arising  from  the 
unsuitableness  of  her  sex  for  so  perilous  a situation,  and  jus- 
tify her  election  in  the  eyes  of  the  people.  She  had  con- 
tinued in  the  family  of  Henry  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
civil  war;  until  the  occupation  of  Segovia  by  the  insurgents, 
after  the  battle  of  Olmedo,  enabled  her  to  seek  the  protection 
of  her  younger  brother  Alfonso,  to  which  she  was  the  more 
inclined  by  her  disgust  with  the  license  of  a court,  where  the 
love  of  pleasure  scorned  even  the  veil  of  hypocrisy.  On  the 
death  of  her  brother,  she  withdrew  to  a monastery  at  Avila, 
where  she  was  visited  by  the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  who,  in 
behalf  of  the  confederates,  requested  her  to  occupy  the  sta- 
tion lately  filled  by  Alfonso,  and  allow  herself  to  be  proclaimed 
queen  of  Castile.36 

Isabella  discerned  too  clearly,  however,  the  path  of  duty 
and  probably  of  interest  She  unhesitatingly  refused  the 
seductive  proffer,  and  replied,  that,  “while  her  brother 
Henry  lived,  none  other  had  a right  to  the  crown;  that  the 
country  had  been  divided  long  enough  under  the  rule  of  two 
contending  monarchs;  and  that  the  death  of  Alfonso  might 
perhaps  be  interpreted  into  an  indication  from  Heaven  of  its 
disapprobation  of  their  cause. ” She  expressed  herself  de- 
sirous of  establishing  a reconciliation  between  the  parties, 
and  offered  heartily  to  cooperate  with  her  brother  in  the  for- 
mation of  existing  abuses.  Neither  the  eloquence  nor  en- 
treaties of  the  primate  could  move  her  from  her  purpose; 
and,  when  a deputation  from  Seville  announced  to  her  that 
that  city,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  Andalusia,  had  un- 
furled its  standards  in  her  name  and  proclaimed  her  sove- 
reign of  Castile,  she  still  persisted  in  the  same  wise  and  tem- 
perate policy.37 

The  confederates  were  not  prepared  for  this  magnanimous 
act  from  one  so  young,  and  in  opposition  to  the  advice  of 
her  most  venerated  counsellors.  No  alternative  remained, 
however,  but  that  of  negotiating  an  accommodation  on  the 
best  terms  possible  with  Henry,  whose  facility  of  temper  and 
love  of  repose  naturally  disposed  him  to  an  amicable  adjust- 
ment of  his  differences.  With  these  dispositions,  a recon- 
ciliation was  effected  between  the  parties  on  the  following 
conditions;  namely,  that  a general  amnesty  should  be  granted 


Il8  CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 

by  the  king  for  all  past  offences;  that  the  queen,  whose 
dissloute  conduct  was  admitted  to  be  matter  of  notoriety, 
should  be  divorced  from  her  husband,  and  sent  back  to  Por- 
tugal; that  Isabella  should  have  the  principality  of  the  Astu- 
rias (the  usual  demesne  of  the  heir  apparent  to  the  crown) 
settled  on  her,  together  with  a specific  provision  suitable  to 
her  rank;  that  she  should  be  immediately  recognized  heir  to 
the  crowns  of  Castile  and  Leon;  that  a cortes  should  be  con- 
voked within  forty  days  for  the  purpose  of  bestowing  a legal 
sanction  on  her  title,  as  well  as  of  reforming  the  various 
abuses  of  government;  and  finally,  that  Isabella  should  not 
be  constrained  to  marry  in  opposition  to  her  own  wishes,  nor 
should  she  do  so  without  the  consent  of  her  brother.38 

In  pursuance  of  these  arrangements,  an  interview  took 
place  between  Henry  and  Isabella,  each  attended  by  a bril- 
liant cortege  of  cavaliers  and  nobles,  at  a place  called  Toros 
de  Guisando,  in  New  Castile.39  The  monarch  embraced  his 
sister  with  the  tenderest  marks  of  affection,  and  then  proceed- 
ed solemnly  to  recognize  her  as  his  future  and  rightful  heir. 
An  oath  of  allegiance  was  repeated  by  the  attendant  nobles, 
who  concluded  the  ceremony  by  kissing  the  hand  of  the  prin- 
cess in  token  of  their  homage.  In  due  time  the  representa- 
tives of  the  nation,  convened  in  cortes  at  Ocana,  unanimously 
concurred  in  their  approbation  of  these  preliminary  proceed- 
ings, and  thus  Isabella  was  announced  to  the  world  as  the 
successor  to  the  crowns  of  Castile  and  Leon.40 

It  can  hardly  be  believed,  that  Henry  was  sincere  in  sub- 
scribing conditions  so  humiliating;  nor  can  his  easy  and 
lethargic  temper  account  for  his  so  readily  relinquishing  the 
pretensions  of  the  Princess  Joanna,  whom,  notwithstanding 
the  popular  imputations  on  her  birth,  he  seems  always  to 
have  cherished  as  his  own  offspring.  He  was  accused,  even 
while  actually  signing  the  treaty,  of  a secret  collusion  with 
the  marquis  of  Villena,  for’the  purpose  of  evading  it;  an  ac- 
cusation, which  derives  a plausible  coloring  from  subsequent 
events. 

The  new  and  legitimate  basis,  on  which  the  pretensions  of 
Isabella  to  the  throne  now  rested,  drew  the  attention  of  neigh- 
boring princes,  who  contended  with  each  other  for  the  honor 
of  her  hand.  Among  these  suitors,  was  a brother  of  Edward 
the  Fourth,  of  England,  not  improbably  Richard,  duke  of 
Gloucester,  since  Clarence  was  then  engaged  in  his  intrigues 
with  the  earl  of  Warwick,  which  led  a few  months  later  to 
his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  that  nobleman.  Had  she 
listened  to  his  proposals,  the  duke  would  in  all  likelihood 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  119 

have  exchanged  his  residence  in  England  for  Castile,  where 
his  ambition,  satisfied  with  the  certain  reversion  of  a crown, 
might  have  been  spared  the  commission  of  the  catalogue  of 
crimes,  which  blacken  his  memory.41 

Another  suitor  was  the  duke  of  Guienne,  the  unfortunate 
brother  of  Louis  the  Eleventh,  and  at  that  time  the  pre- 
sumptive heir  of  the  French  monarchy.  Although  the  ancient 
intimacy,  which  subsisted  between  the  royal  families  of  France 
and  Castile,  in  some  measure  favored  his  pretensions,  the 
disadvantages  resulting  from  such  a union  were  too  obvious 
to  escape  attention.  The  two  countries  were  too  remote 
from  each  other,42  and  their  inhabitants  too  dissimilar  in 
character  and  institutions,  to  permit  the  idea  of  their  ever 
cordially  coalescing  as  one  people  under  a common  sovereign. 
Should  the  duke  of  Guienne  fail  in  the  inheritance  of  the 
crown,  it  was  argued,  he  would  be  every  way  an  unequal 
match  for  the  heiress  of  Castile;  should  he  succeed  to  it,  it 
might  be  feared,  that,  in  case  of  a union,  the  smaller  king- 
dom would  be  considered  only  as  an  appendage,  and  sacri- 
ficed to  the  interests  of  the  larger.43 

The  person,  on  whom  Isabella  turned  the  most  favorable 
eye,  was  her  kinsman  Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  The  superior 
advantages  of  a connection,  which  should  be  the  means  of 
uniting  the  people  of  Aragon  and  Castile  into  one  nation, 
were  indeed  manifest.  They  were  the  descendants  of  one 
common  stock,  speaking  one  language,  and  living  under  the 
influence  of  similar  institutions,  which  had  moulded  them 
into  a common  resemblance  of  character  and  manners. 
From  their  geographical  position,  too,  they  seemed  destined 
by  nature  to  be  one  nation;  and,  while  separately  they  were 
condemned  to  the  rank  of  petty  and  subordinate  states,  they 
might  hope,  when  consolidated  into  one  monarchy,  to  rise  at 
once  to  the  first  class  of  European  powers.  While  arguments 
of  this  public  nature  pressed  on  the  mind  of  Isabella,  she  was 
not  insensible  to  those  which  most  powerfully  affect  the 
female  heart.  Ferdinand  was  then  in  the  bloom  of  life,  and 
distinguished  for  the  comeliness  of  his  person.  In  the  busy 
scenes,  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  from  his  boyhood,  he 
had  displayed  a chivalrous  valor,  combined  with  maturity  of 
judgment  far  above  his  years.  Indeed,  he  was  decidedly 
superior  to  his  rivals  in  personal  merit  and  attractions..44 
But,  while  private  inclinations  thus  happily  coincided  with 
considerations  of  expediency  for  inclining  her  to  prefer  the 
Aragonese  match,  a scheme  was  devised  in  another  quarter 
for  the  express  purpose  of  defeating  it. 


120 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


A fraction  of  the  royal  party,  with  the  family  of  Mendoza 
at  their  head,  had  retired  in  disgust  with  the  convention  of 
Toros  de  Guisando,  and  openly  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
princess  Joanna.  They  even  instructed  her  to  institute  an 
appeal  before  the  tribunal  of  the  supreme  pontiff,  and  caused 
a placard,  exhibiting  a protest  against  the  validity  of  the  late 
proceedings,  to  be  nailed  secretly  in  the  night  to  the  gate  of 
Isabella’s  mansion.45  Thus  were  sown  the  seeds  of  new  dis- 
sensions, before  the  old  were  completely  eradicated.  With 
this  disaffected  party  the  marquis  of  Villena,  who,  since  his 
reconciliation,  had  resumed  his  ancient  ascendency  over 
Henry,  now  associated  himself.  Nothing,  in  the  opinion  of 
this  nobleman,  could  be  more  repugnant  to  his  interests,  than 
the  projected  union  between  the  houses  of  Castile  and  Ara- 
gon; to  the  latter  of  which,  as  already  noticed,46  once  be- 
longed the  ample  domains  of  his  own  marquisate,  which  he 
imagined  would  be  held  by  a very  precarious  tenure  should 
any  of  this  family  obtain  a footing  in  Castile. 

In  the  hope  of  counteracting  this  project,  he  endeavored 
to  revive  the  obselete  pretensions  of  Alfonso,  king  of  Por- 
tugal; and,  the  more  effectually  to  secure  the  cooperation  of 
Henry,  he  connected  with  his  scheme  a proposition  for  mar- 
rying his  daughter  Joanna  with  the  son  and  heir  of  the  Por- 
tuguese monarch;  and  thus  this  unfortunate  princess  might 
be  enabled  to  assume  at  once  a station  suitable  to  her  birth, 
and  at  some  future  opportunity  assert  with  success  her  claim 
to  the  Castilian  crown.  In  furtherance  of  this  complicated 
intrigue,  Alfonso  was  invited  to  renew  his  addresses  to 
Isabella  in  a more  public  manner  than  he  had  hitherto 
done;  and  a pompous  embassy,  with  the  archbishop  of  Lis- 
bon at  its  head,  appeared  at  Ocana,  where  Isabella  was  then 
residing,  bearing  the  proposals  of  their  master.  The  princess 
returned,  as  before,  a decided  though  temperate  refusal.47 
Henry,  or  rather  the  marquis  of  Villena,  piqued  at  this  oppo- 
sition to  his  wishes,  resolved  to  intimidate  her  into  com- 
pliance; and  menaced  her  with  imprisonment  in  the  royal 
fortress  at  Madrid.  Neither  her  tears  nor  entreaties  would 
have  availed  against  this  tyrannical  proceeding;  and  the 
marquis  was  only  deterred  from  putting  it  in  execution  by  his 
fear  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ocana,  who  openly  espoused  the 
cause  of  Isabella.  Indeed,  the  common  people  of  Castile 
very  generally  supported  her  in  her  preference  of  the  Ara- 
gonese match.  Boys  paraded  the  streets,  bearing  banners 
emblazoned  with  the  arms  of  Aragon,  and  singing  verses 
prophetic  of  the  glories  of  the  auspicious  union.  They  even 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


I 2 I 


assembled  round  the  palace  gates,  and  insulted  the  ears  of 
Henry  and  his  minister  by  the  repetition  of  satirical  stanzas, 
which  contrasted  Alfonso’s  years  with  the  youthful  graces 
of  Ferdinand.48  Notwithstanding  this  popular  expression  of 
opinion,  however,  the  constancy  of  Isabella  might  at  length 
have  yielded  to  the  importunity  of  her  persecutors,  had  she 
not  been  encouraged  by  her  friend,  the  archbishop  of  To- 
ledo, who  had  warmly  entered  into  the  interests  of  Aragon, 
and  who  promised,  should  matters  come  to  extremity,  to 
march  in  person  to  her  relief  at  the  head  of  a sufficient  force 
to  insure  it. 

Isabella,  indignant  at  the  oppressive  treatment,  which  she 
experienced  from  her  brother,  as  well  as  at  his  notorious  in- 
fraction of  almost  every  article  in  the  treaty  of  Toros  de 
Guisando,  felt  herself  released  from  her  corresponding  en- 
gagements, and  determined  to  conclude  the  negotiations 
relative  to  her  marriage,  without  any  further  deference  to 
his  opinion.  Before  taking  any  decisive  step,  however,  she 
was  desirous  of  obtaining  the  concurrence  of  the  leading 
nobles  of  her  party.  This  was  effected  without  difficulty, 
through  the  intervention  of  the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  and  of 
Don  Frederic  Henriquez,  admiral  of  Castile,  and  the  maternal 
grandfather  of  Ferdinand;  a person  of  high  consideration, 
both  from  his  rank  and  character,  and  connected  by  blood 
with  the  principal  families  in  the  kingdom.49  Fortified  by 
their  approbation,  Isabella  dismissed  the  Aragonese  envoy 
with  a favorable  answer  to  his  master’s  suit.50 

Her  reply  was  received  with  almost  as  much  satisfaction 
by  the  old  king  of  Aragon,  John  the  Second,  as  by  his  son. 
This  monarch,  who  was  one  of  the  shrewdest  princes  of  his 
time,  had  always  been  deeply  sensible  of  the  importance  of 
consolidating  the  scattered  monarchies  of  Spain  under  one 
head.  He  had  solicited  the  hand  of  Isabella  for  his  son, 
when  she  possessed  only  a contingent  reversion  of  the  crown. 
But,  when  her  succession  had  been  settled  on  a more  secure 
basis,  he  lost  no  time  in  effecting  this  favorite  object  of  his 
policy.  With  the  consent  of  the  states,  he  had  transferred 
to  his  son  the  title  of  king  of  Sicily,  and  associated  him  with 
himself  in  the  government  at  home,  in  order  to  give  him 
greater  consequence  in  the  eyes  of  his  mistress.  He  then 
despatched  a confidential  agent  into  Castile,  with  instructions 
to  gain  over  to  his  interests  all  who  exercised  any  influence 
on  the  mind  of  the  princess;  furnishing  him  for  this  purpose 
with  cartes  blanches , signed  by  himself  and  Ferdinand,  which 
he  was  empowered  to  fill  at  his  discretion.61 

Vol.  I. — 6. 


122 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


Between  parties  thus  favorably  disposed,  there  was  no  un- 
necessary delay.  The  marriage  articles  were  signed,  and 
sworn  to  by  Ferdinand  at  Cervera,  on  the  7th  of  January. 
He  promised  faithfully  to  respect  the  laws  and  usages  of 
Castile;  to  fix  his  residence  in  that  kingdom,  and  not  to  quit 
it  without  the  consent  of  Isabella;  to  alienate  no  property 
belonging  to  the  crown;  to  prefer  no  foreigners  to  municipal 
offices,  and  indeed  to  make  no  appointments  of  a civil  or 
military  nature,  without  her  consent  and  approbation;  and 
to  resign  to  her  exclusively  the  right  of  nomination  to  eccle- 
siastical benefices.  All  ordinances  of  a public^  nature  were 
to  be  subscribed  equally  by  both.  Ferdinand  engaged,  more- 
over, to  prosecute  the  war  against  the  Moors  ; to  respect 
King  Henry;  to  suffer  every  noble  to  remain  unmolested  in 
the  possession  of  his  dignities,  and  not  to  demand  restitution 
of  the  domains  formerly  owned  by  his  father  in  Castile.  The 
treaty  concluded  with  a specification  of  a magnificent  dower 
to  be  settled  on  Isabella,  far  more  ample  than  that  usually 
assigned  to  the  queens  of  Aragon/'2  The  circumspection  of 
the  framers  of  this  instrument  is  apparent  from  the  various 
provisions  introduced  into  it  solely  to  calm  the  apprehensions 
and  to  conciliate  the  good  will  of  the  party  disaffected  to  the 
marriage;  while  the  national  partialities  of  the  Castilians  in 
general  were  gratified  by  the  jealous  restrictions  imposed  on 
Ferdinand,  and  the  relinquishment  of  all  the  essential  rights 
of  sovereignty  to  his  consort. 

While  these  affairs  were  in  progress,  Isabella’s  situation 
was  becoming  extremely  critical.  She  had  availed  herself 
of  the  absence  of  her  brother  and  the  marquis  of  Villena  in 
the  south,  whither  they  had  gone  for  the  purpose  of  suppress- 
ing the  still  lingering  spark  of  insurrection,  to  transfer  her 
residence  from  Ocana  to  Madrigal,  where,  under  the  protec- 
tion of  her  mother,  she  intended  to  abide  the  issue  of  the 
pending  negotiations  with  Aragon.  Far,  however,  from 
escaping  the  vigilant  eye  of  the  marquis  of  Villena  by  this 
movement,  she  laid  herself  more  open  to  it.  She  found  the 
bishop  of  Burgos,  the  nephew  of  the  marquis,  stationed  at 
Madrigal,  who  now  served  as  an  effectual  spy  upon  her 
actions.  Her  most  confidential  servants  were  corrupted,  and 
conveyed  intelligence  of  her  proceedings  to  her  enemy. 
Alarmed  at  the  actual  progress  made  in  the  negotiations  for 
her  marriage,  the  marquis  was  now  convinced  that  he  could 
only  hope  to  defeat  them  by  resorting  to  the  coercive  system, 
which  he  had  before  abandoned.  He  accordingly  instructed 
the  archbishop  of  Seville  to  march  at  once  to  Madrigal  with 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


123 


a sufficient  force  to  secure  Isabella’s  person;  and  letters  were 
at  the  same  time  addressed  by  Henry  to  the  citizens  of  that 
place,  menacing  them  with  his  resentment,  if  they  should 
presume  to  interpose  in  her  behalf.  The  timid  inhabitants 
disclosed  the  purport  of  the  mandate  to  Isabella,  and  besought 
her  to  provide  for  her  own  safety.  This  was  perhaps  the 
most  critical  period  in  her  life.  Betrayed  by  her  own  domes- 
tics, deserted  even  by  those  friends  of  her  own  sex,  who 
might  have  afforded  her  sympathy  and  counsel,  but  who  fled 
affrighted  from  the  scene  of  danger,  and  on  the  eve  of  falling 
into  the  snares  of  her  enemies,  she  beheld  the  sudden  extinc- 
tion of  those  hopes,  which  she  had  so  long  and  so  fondly 
cherished.53 

In  this  exigency,  she  contrived  to  convey  a knowledge  of 
her  situation  to  Admiral  Henriquez,  and  the  archbishop  of 
Toledo.  The  active  prelate,  on  receiving  the  summons,  col- 
lected a body  of  horse,  and  reinforced  by  the  admiral’s  troops, 
advanced  with  such  expedition  to  Madrigal,  that  he  succeeded 
in  anticipating  the  arrival  of  the  enemy.  Isabella  received 
her  friends  with  unfeigned  satisfaction;  and,  bidding  adieu 
to  her  dismayed  guardian,  the  bishop  of  Burgos,  and  his  at- 
tendants, she  was  borne  off  by  her  little  army  in  a sort  of 
military  triumph  to  the  friendly  city  of  Valladolid,  where 
she  was  welcomed  by  the  citizens  with  a general  burst  of  en- 
thusiasm.54 

In  the  mean  time  Gutierre  de  Cardenas,  one  of  the  house- 
hold of  the  princess,55  and  Alfonso  de  Palencia,  the  faithful 
chronicler  of  these  events,  were  despatched  into  Aragon  in 
order  to  quicken  Ferdinand’s  operations,  during  the  auspi- 
cious interval  afforded  by  the  absence  of  Henry  in  Andalusia. 
On  arriving  at  the  frontier  town  of  Osma,  they  were  dismayed 
to  find  that  the  bishop  of  that  place,  together  with  the  duke 
of  Medina  Cell,  on  whose  active  cooperation  they  had  relied 
for  the  safe  introduction  of  Ferdinand  into  Castile,  had  been 
gained  over  to  the  interests  of  the  marquis  of  Villena.56  The 
envoys,  however,  adroitly  concealing  the  real  object  of  their 
mission,  were  permitted  to  pass  unmolested  to  Saragossa, 
where  Ferdinand  was  then  residing.  They  could  not  have 
arrived  at  a more  inopportune  season.  The  old  king  of  Ara- 
gon was  in  the  very  heat  of  the  war  against  the  insurgent 
Catalans,  headed  by  the  victorious  John  of  Anjou.  Although 
so  sorely  pressed,  his  forces  were  on  the  eve  of  disbanding 
for  want  of  the  requisite  funds  to  maintain  them.  His  ex- 
hausted treasury  did  not  contain  more  than  three  hundred 
enriques .57  In  this  exigency  he  was  agitated  by  the  most 


124 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


distressing  doubts.  As  he  could  spare  neither  the  funds  nor 
the  force  necessary  for  covering  his  son’s  entrance  into  Cas- 
tile, he  must  either  send  him  unprotected  into  a hostile 
country,  already  aware  of  his  intended  enterprise  and  in  arms 
to  defeat  it,  or  abandon  the  long-cherished  object  of  his 
policy,  at  the  moment  when  his  plans  were  ripe  for  execu- 
tion. Unable  to  extricate  himself  from  this  dilemma,  he  re- 
ferred the  whole  matter  to  Ferdinand  and  his  council.68 

It  was  at  length  determined,  that  the  prince  should  under- 
take the  journey,  accompanied  by  half  a dozen  attendants 
only,  in  the  disguise  of  merchants,  by  the  direct  route  from 
Saragossa;  while  another  party,  in  order  to  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Castilians,  should  proceed  in  a different  direction, 
with  all  the  ostentation  of  a public  embassy  from  the  king  of 
Aragon  to  Henry  the  Fourth.  The  distance  was  not  great, 
which  Ferdinand  and  his  suite  were  to  travel  before  reaching 
a place  of  safety;  but  this  intervening  country  was  patrolled 
by  squadrons  of  cavalry  for  the  purpose  of  intercepting  their 
progress;  and  the  whole  extent  of  the  frontier,  from  Almazan 
to  Guadalajara,  was  defended  by  a line  of  fortified  castles  in 
the  hands  of  the  family  of  Mendoza.59  The  greatest  circum- 
spection therefore  was  necessary.  The  party  journeyed  chiefly 
in  the  night;  Ferdinand  assumed  the  disguise  of  a servant, 
and,  when  they  halted  on  the  road,  took  care  of  the  mules, 
and  served  his  companions  at  table.  In  this  guise,  with  no 
other  disaster  except  that  of  leaving  at  an  inn  the  purse 
which  contained  the  funds  for  the  expedition,  they  arrived, 
late  on  the  second  night,  at  a little  place  called  the  Burgo, 
or  Borough,  of  Osma,  which  the  count  of  Trevino,  one  of 
the  partisans  of  Isabella,  had  occupied  with  a considerable 
body  of  men-at-arms.  On  knocking  at  the  gate,  cold  and 
faint  with  travelling,  during  which  the  prince  had  allowed 
himself  to  take  no  repose,  they  were  saluted  by  a large  stone 
discharged  by  a sentinel  from  the  battlements,  which,  glanc- 
ing near  Ferdinand’s  head,  had  wellnigh  brought  his  roman- 
tic enterprise  to  a tragical  conclusion;  when  his  voice  was 
recognized  by  his  friends  within,  and,  the  trumpets  proclaim- 
ing his  arrival,  he  was  received  with  great  joy  and  festivity 
by  the  count  and  his  followers.  The  remainder  of  his  jour- 
ney, which  he  commenced  before  dawn,  was  performed  under 
the  convoy  of  a numerous  and  well-armed  escort;  and  on 
the  9th  of  October  he  reached  Duenas  in  the  kingdom  of 
Leon,  where  the  Castilian  nobles  and  cavaliers  of  his  party 
eagerly  thronged  to  render  him  the  homage  due  to  his 
rank.60 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  1 25 

The  intelligence  of  Ferdinand’s  arrival  diffused  universal 
joy  in  the  little  court  of  Isabella  at  Valladolid.  Her  first  step 
was  to  transmit  a letter  to  her  brother  Henry,  in  which  she 
informed  him  of  the  presence  of  the  prince  in  his  dominions, 
and  of  their  intended  marriage.  She  excused  the  course  she 
had  taken  by  the  embarrassments,  in  which  she  had  been  in- 
volved by  the  malice  of  her  enemies.  She  represented  the 
political  advantages  of  the  connection,  and  the  sanction  it 
had  received  from  the  Castilian  nobles;  and  she  concluded 
with  soliciting  his  approbation  of  it,  giving  him  at  the  same 
time  affectionate  assurances  of  the  most  dutiful  submission 
both  on  the  part  of  Ferdinand  and  of  herself.61  Arrange- 
ments were  then  made  for  an  interview  between  the  royal 
pair,  in  which  some  courtly  parasites  would  fain  have  per- 
suaded their  mistress  to  require  some  act  of  homage  from 
Ferdinand,  in  token  of  the  inferiority  of  the  crown  of  Aragon 
to  that  of  Castile;  a proposition  which  she  rejected  with  her 
usual  discretion.62 

Agreeably  to  these  arrangements,  Ferdinand,  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  15th  of  October,  passed  privately  from  Duenas, 
accompanied  only  by  four  attendants,  to  the  neighboring  city 
of  Valladolid,  where  he  was  received  by  the  archbishop  of 
Toledo,  and  conducted  to  the  apartment  of  his  mistress.63 
Ferdinand  was  at  this  time  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  age. 
His  complexion  was  fair,  though  somewhat  bronzed  by  con- 
stant exposure  to  the  sun;  his  eye  quick  and  cheerful;  his 
forehead  ample,  and  approaching  to  baldness.  His  muscular 
and  well-proportioned  frame  was  invigorated  by  the  toils  of 
war,  and  by  the  chivalrous  exercises  in  which  he  delighted. 
He  was  one  of  the  best  horsemen  in  his  court,  and  excelled 
in  field  sports  of  every  kind.  His  voice  was  somewhat  sharp, 
but  he  possessed  a fluent  eloquence;  and,  when  he  had  a 
point  to  carry,  his  address  was  courteous  and  even  insinuat- 
ing. He  secured  his  health  by  extreme  temperance  in  his 
diet,  and  by  such  habits  of  activity  that  it  was  said  he  seemed 
to  find  repose  in  business.64  Isabella  was  a year  older  than 
her  lover.  In  stature  she  was  somewhat  above  the  middle 
size.  Her  complexion  was  fair;  her  hair  of  a bright  chest- 
nut color,  inclining  to  red;  and  her  mild  blue  eye  beamed 
with  intelligence  and  sensibility.  She  was  exceedingly  beau- 
tiful; “the  handsomest  lady,”  says  one  of  her  household, 
“whom  I ever  beheld,  and  the  most  gracious  in  her  man- 
ners.”65 The  portrait,  still  existing  of  her  in  the  royal 
palace,  is  conspicuous  for  an  open  symmetry  of  features,  in- 
dicative of  the  natural  serenity  of  temper,  and  that  beautiful 


126 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


harmony  of  intellectual  and  moral  qualities,  which  most  dis- 
tinguished her.  She  was  dignified  in  her  demeanor,  and 
modest  even  to  a degree  of  reserve.  She  spoke  the  Cas- 
tilian language  with  more  than  usual  elegance;  and  early 
imbibed  a relish  for  letters,  in  which  she  was  superior  to 
Ferdinand,  whose  education  in  this  particular  seems  to  have 
been  neglected.66  It  is  not  easy  to  obtain  a dispassionate 
portrait  of  Isabella.  The  Spaniards,  who  revert  to  her  glo- 
rious reign,  are  so  smitten  with  her  moral  perfections,  that 
even  in  depicting  her  personal,  they  borrow  somewhat  of  the 
exaggerated  coloring  of  romance. 

The  interview  lasted  more  than  two  hours,  when  Ferdi- 
nand retired  to  his  quarters  at  Duenas,  as  privately  as  he 
came.  The  preliminaries  of  the  marriage,  however,  were 
first  adjusted;  but  so  great  was  the  poverty  of  the  parties, 
that  it  was  found  necessary  to  borrow  money  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  ceremony.67  Such  were  the  humiliating  cir- 
cumstances attending  the  commencement  of  a union  destined 
to  open  the  way  to  the  highest  prosperity  and  grandeur  of 
the  Spanish  monrachy! 

The  marriage  between  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  was  pub- 
licly celebrated,  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  of  October,  in 
the  palace  of  John  de  Vivero,  the  temporary  residence  of 
the  princess,  and  subsequently  appropriated  to  the  chancery 
of  Valladolid.  The  nuptials  were  solemnized  in  the  presence 
of  Ferdinand’s  grandfather,  the  admiral  of  Castile,  of  the 
archbishop  of  Toledo,  and  a multitude  of  persons  of  rank, 
as  well  as  of  inferior  condition,  amounting  in  all  to  no  less 
than  two  thousand.68  A papal  bull  of  dispensation  was  pro- 
duced by  the  archbishop,  relieving  the  parties  from  the  im- 
pediment incurred  by  their  falling  within  the  prohibited 
degrees  of  consanguinity.  The  spurious  document  was 
afterward  discovered  to  have  been  devised  by  the  old  king 
of  Aragon,  Ferdinand,  and  the  archbishop,  who  were  deterred 
from  applying  to  the  court  of  Rome  by  the  zeal  with  which 
it  openly  espoused  the  interests  of  Henry,  and  who  knew 
that  Isabella  would  never  consent  to  a union  repugnant  to 
the  canons  of  the  established  church,  and  one  which  involved 
such  heavy  ecclesiastical  censures.  A genuine  bull  of  dis- 
pensation was  obtained,  some  years  later,  from  Sixtus  the 
Fourth;  but  Isabella,  whose  honest  mind  abhorred  everything 
like  artifice,  was  filled  with  no  little  uneasiness  and  mortifica- 
tion at  the  discovery  of  the  imposition.69  The  ensuing  week 
was  consumed  in  the  usual  festivities  of  this  joyous  season; 
at  the  expiration  of  which,  the  new-married  pair  attended 


MARRIAGE  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA.  127 

publicly  the  celebration  of  mass,  agreeably  to  the  usage  of 
the  time,  in  the  collegiate  church  of  Sante  Maria.70 

An  embassy  was  despatched  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  to 
Henry,  to  acquaint  him  with  their  proceedings,  and  again 
request  his  approbation  of  them.  They  repeated  their  assu- 
rances of  loyal  submission,  and  accompanied  the  message 
with  a copious  extract  from  such  of  the  articles  of  marriage, 
as,  by  their  import,  would  be  most  likely  to  conciliate  his 
favorable  disposition.  Henry  coldly  replied,  that  “he  must 
advise  with  his  ministers.”  71 


Gonzalo  Fernandez  de  Oviedo  y Valdes,  author  of  the  “ Quincuagenas  ” 
frequently  cited  in  this  History,  was  born  at  Madrid,  in  1478.  He  was  of 
noble  Asturian  descent.  Indeed,  every  peasant  in  the  Asturias  claims  no- 
bility as  his  birthright.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  introduced  into  the 
royal  palace,  as  one  of  the  pages  of  Prince  John.  He  continued  with  the 
court  several  years,  and  was  present,  though  a boy,  in  the  closing  campaigns 
of  the  Moorish  war.  In  1514,  according  to  his  own  statement,  he  embarked 
for  the  Indies,  where,  although  he  revisited  his  native  country  several  times, 
he  continued  during  the  remainder  of  his  long  life.  The  time  of  his  death 
is  uncertain. 

Oviedo  occupied  several  important  posts  under  the  government,  and  he 
was  appointed  to  one  of  a literary  nature,  for  which  he  was  well  qualified 
by  his  long  residence  abroad;  that  of  historiographer  of  the  Indies.  It  was 
in  this  capacity  that  he  produced  his  principal  work,  “ Historia  General  de 
las  Indias,”  in  fifty  books.  Las  Casas  denounces  the  book  as  a wholesale 
fabrication,  “as  full  of  lies,  almost,  as  pages”  (CEuvres,  trad,  de  Llorente, 
tom.  i.  p.  382).  But  Las  Casas  entertained  too  hearty  an  aversion  for  the 
man,  whom  he  publicly  accused  of  rapacity  and  cruelty,  and  was  too  decided- 
ly opposed  to  his  ideas  on  the  government  of  the  Indies,  to  be  a fair  critic. 
Oviedo,  though  somewhat  loose  and  rambling,  possessed  extensive  stores  of 
information,  by  which  those  who  have  had  occasion  to  follow  in  his  track 
have  liberally  profited. 

The  work  with  which  we  are  concerned,  is  his  Quincuagenas.  It  is  en- 
titled “Las  Quincuagenas  de  los  generosos  e ilustres  e no  menos  famosos 
Reyes,  Priticipes,  Duques,  Manjueses  y Condes  et  Caballeros,  et  Personas 
notables  de  Espana,  que  escribio  el  Capitan  Gonzalo  Fernandez  de  Oviedo 
y Valdez,  Alcaide  de  sus  Magestades  de  la  Fortaleza  de  la  Cibdad  e Puerto 
de  Sancto  Domingo  de  la  Isla  Espanola,  Coronista  de  las  Indias,”  etc.  At 
the  close  of  the  third  volume  is  this  record  of  the  octogenarian  author  ; 
“ Acabe  de  escribir  de  mi  mano  este  famoso  tractado  de  la  nobleza  de 
Espana,  domingo  i°  dia  de  Pascua  de  Pentecostes  XXIII.  de  mayo  de  1556 
anos.  Laus  Deo.  Y de  mi  edad  79  anos.”  This  very  curious  work  is  in 
the  form  of  dialogues,  in  which  the  author  is  the  chief  interlocutor.  It  con- 
tains a very  full,  and,  indeed,  prolix  notice  of  the  principal  persons  in  Spain, 
their  lineage,  revenues,  and  arms,  with  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  private 
anecdote.  The  author,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  most  of  the  individ- 
uals of  note  in  his  time,  amused  himself,  during  his  absence  in  the  New 
World,  with  keeping  alive  the  images  of  home  by  this  minute  record  of 
early  reminiscences.  In  this  mass  of  gossip,  there  is  a good  deal,  indeed, 
of  very  little  value.  It  contains,  however,  much  for  the  illustration  of 


CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


I 28 

domestic  manners,  and  copious  particulars,  as  I have  intimated,  respecting 
the  characters  and  habits  of  eminent  personages,  which  could  have  .been 
known  only  to  one  familiar  with  them.  On  all  topics  of  descent  and  her- 
aldry, he  is  uncommonly  full;  and  one  would  think  his  services  in  this  de- 
partment alone,  might  have  secured  him,  in  a land  where  these  are  so  much 
respected,  the  honors  of  the  press.  His  book,  however,  still  remains  in 
manuscript,  apparently  little  known,  and  less  used,  by  Castilian  scholars. 
Besides  the  three  folio  volumes  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Madrid,  from  which 
the  transcript  in  my  possession  was  obtained,  Clemencin,  whose  commen- 
dations of  this  work,  as  illustrative  of  Isabella’s  reign,  are  unqualified 
(Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom,  vi.  Ilust.  10),  enumerates  three  others, 
two  in  the  king’s  private  library,  and  one  in  that  of  the  Academy. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


FACTIONS  IN  CASTILE. WAR  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  ARA- 
GON.  DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV.,  OF  CASTILE. 

1469 1474. 

Factions  in  Castile. — Ferdinand  and  Isabella. — Gallant  Defence  of  Per- 
pignan against  the  French. — Ferdinand  raises  the  Siege. — Isabella’s 
Party  gains  Strength. — Interview  between  King  Heftry  IV.  and  Isa- 
bella.— The  French  invade  Roussillon. — Ferdinand’s  summary  Justice. 
— Death  of  Henry  IV.,  of  Castile. — Influence  of  his  Reign. 

The  marriage  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  disconcerted  the 
operations  of  the  marquis  of  Villena,  or  as  he  should  be 
styled,  the  grand  master  of  St.  James,  since  he  had  resigned 
his  marquisate  to  his  elder  son,  on  his  appointment  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  military  order  above  mentioned,  a dignity  infe 
rior  only  to  the  primacy  in  importance.  It  was  determined, 
however,  in  the  councils  of  Henry  to  oppose  at  once  the 
pretensions  of  the  princess  Joanna  to  those  of  Isabella;  and 
an  embassy  was  gladly  received  from  the  king  of  France, 
offering  to  the  former  lady  the  hand  of  his  brother  the  duke 
of  Guienne,  the  rejected  suitor  of  Isabella.  Louis  the 
Eleventh  was  willing  to  engage  his  relative  in  the  unsettled 
politics  of  a distant  state,  in  order  to  relieve  himself  from  his 
pretensions  at  home.1 

An  interview  took  place  between  Henry  the  Fourth  and 
the  French  ambassadors  in  a little  village  in  the  vale  of 
Lozoya,  in  October,  1470.  A proclamation  was  read,  in 
which  Henry  declared  his  sister  to  have  forfeited  whatever 
claims  she  had  derived  from  the  treaty  of  Toros  de  Guisan- 
do,  by  marrying  contrary  to  his  approbation.  He  then  with 
his  queen  swore  to  the  legitimacy  of  the  princess  Joanna, 
and  announced  her  as  his  true  and  lawful  successor.  The 
attendant  nobles  took  the  usual  oaths  of  allegiance,  and  the 
ceremony  was  concluded  by  affiancing  the  princess,  then  in 
the  ninth  year  of  her  age,  with  the  formalities  ordinarily  prac- 
tised on  such  occasions,  to  the  count  of  Boulogne,  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  duke  of  Guienne,2 
6* 


I30  TROUBLES  IN  CASTILE  AND  ARAGON. 

This  farce,  in  which  many  of  the  actors  were  the  same  per- 
sons who  performed  the  principal  parts  at  the  convention  of 
Toros  de  Guisando,  had  on  the  whole  an  unfavorable  influence 
on  Isabella’s  cause.  It  exhibited  her  rival  to  the  world  as 
one  whose  claims  were  to  be  supported  by  the  whole  authority 
of  the  court  of  Castile,  with  the  probable  cooperation  of 
France.  Many  of  the  most  considerable  families  in  the 
kingdom,  as  the  Pachecos3  the  Mendozas  in  all  their  exten- 
sive ramifications,4  the  Zuncigas,  the  Velacos,5  the  Pimentels,6 
unmindful  of  the  homage  so  recently  rendered  to  Isabella, 
now  openly  testified  their  adhesion  to  her  niece. 

Ferdinand  and  his  consort,  who  held  their  little  court  at 
Duenas,7  were  so  poor  as  to  be  scarcely  capable  of  defraying 
the  ordinary  charges  of  their  table.  The  northern  provinces 
of  Biscay  and  Guipuscoa  had,  however,  loudly  declared 
against  the  French  match;  and  the  populous  province  of 
Andalusia,  with  the  house  of  Medina  Sidonia  at  its  head,  still 
maintained  its  loyalty  to  Isabella  unshaken.  But  her  prin- 
cipal reliance  was  on  the  archbishop  of  Toledo,  whose  ele- 
vated station  in  the  church  and  ample  revenues  gave  him 
perhaps  less  real  influence,  than  his  commanding  and  resolute 
character,  which  had  enabled  him  to  triumph  over  every 
obstacle  devised  by  his  more  crafty  adversary,  the  grand 
master  of  St.  James.  The  prelate,  however,  with  all  his 
generous  self-devotion,  was  far  from  being  a comfortable 
ally.  He  would  willingly  have  raised  Isabella  to  the  throne, 
but  he  would  have  her  indebted  for  her  elevation  exclusively 
to  himself.  He  looked  with  a jealous  eye  on  her  most  inti- 
mate friends,  and  complained  that  neither  she  nor  her  hus- 
band deferred  sufficiently  to  his  counsel.  The  princess 
could  not  always  conceal  her  disgust  at  these  humors,  and 
Ferdinand,  on  one  occasion,  plainly  told  him  that  “he  was 
not  to  be  put  in  leading-strings,  like  so  many  of  the  sove- 
reigns of  Castile.’’  The  old  king  of  Aragon,  alarmed  at  the 
consequences  of  a rupture  with  so  indispensable  an  ally, 
wrote  in  the  most  earnest  manner  to  his  son,  representing, 
the  necessity  of  propitiating  the  offended  prelate.  But  Fer- 
dinand, although  educated  in  the  school  of  dissimulation, 
had  not  yet  acquired  that  self-command,  which  enabled  him 
in  after-life  to  sacrifice  his  passions,  and  sometimes  indeed 
his  principles,  to  his  interests.8 

The  most  frightful  anarchy  at  this  period  prevailed 
throughout  CastAe.  While  the  court  was  abandoned  to  cor- 
rupt or  frivolous  pleasure,  the  administration  of  justice  was 
neglected,  until  crimes  were  committed  with  a frequency  and 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV. 


131 

011  a scale,  which  menaced  the  very  foundations  of  society. 
The  nobles  conducted  their  personal  feuds  with  an  array  of 
numbers  which  might  compete  with  those  of  powerful  prin- 
ces. The  duke  of  Infantado,  the  head  of  the  house  of 
Mendoza,9  could  bring  into  the  field,  at  four  and  twenty 
hours’  notice,  one  thousand  lances  and  ten  thousand  foot. 
The  battles,  far  from  assuming  the  character  of  those  waged 
by  the  Italian  condottieri  at  this  period,  were  of  the  most 
sanguinary  and  destructive  kind.  Andalusia  was  in  particu- 
lar the  theatre  of  this  savage  warfare.  The  whole  of  that 
extensive  district  was  divided  by  the  factions  of  the  Guz- 
mans and  Ponces  de  Leon.  The  chiefs  of  these  ancient 
houses  having  recently  died,  the  inheritance  descended  to 
young  men,  whose  hot  blood  soon  revived  the  feuds,  which 
had  been  permitted  to  cool  under  the  temperate  sway  of  their 
fathers.  One  of  these  fiery  cavaliers  was  Rodrigo  Ponce  de 
Leon,  so  deservedly  celebrated  afterward  in  the  wars  of 
Granada  as  the  marquis  of  Cadiz.  He  was  the  illegitimate 
and  younger  son  of  the  count  of  Arcos,  but  was  preferred 
by  his  father  to  his  other  children  in  consequence  of  the  ex- 
traordinary qualities  which  he  evinced  at  a very  early  period. 
He  served  his  apprenticeship  to  the  art  of  war  in  the  cam- 
paigns against  the  Moors,  displaying  on  several  occasions  an 
uncommon  degree  of  enterprise  and  personal  heroism.  On 
succeeding  to  his  paternal  honors,  his  haughty  spirit,  impa- 
tient of  a rival,  led  him  to  revive  the  old  feud  with  the  duke  of 
Medina  Sidonia,  the  head  of  the  Guzmans,  who,  though  the 
most  powerful  nobleman  in  Andalusia,  was  far  his  inferior  in 
capacity  and  military  science.10 

On  one  occasion  the  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia  mustered  an 
army  of  twenty  thousand  men  against  his  antagonist;  on 
another,  no  less  than  fifteen  hundred  houses  of  the  Ponce 
faction  were  burnt  to  the  ground  in  Seville.  Such  were  the 
potent  engines  employed  by  these  petty  sovereigns  in  their 
conflicts  with  one  another,  and  such  the  havoc  which  they 
brought  on  the  fairest  portion  of  the  Peninsula.  The  hus- 
bandman, stripped  of  his  harvest  and  driven  from  his  fields, 
abandoned  himself  to  idleness,  or  sought  subsistence  by 
plunder.  A scarcity  ensued  in  the  years  1472  and  1473,  in 
which  the  prices  of  the  most  necessary  commodities  rose  to 
such  an  exobritant  height,  as  to  put  them  beyond  the  reach 
of  any  but  the  affluent.  But  it  would  be  wearisome  to  go 
into  all  the  loathsome  details  of  wretchedness  and  crime 
brought  on  this  unhappy  country  by  an  imbecile  government 
and  a disputed  succession,  and  which  are  portrayed  with 


1 32 


TROUBLES  IN  CASTILE  AND  ARAGON. 


lively  fidelity  in  the  chronicles,  the  letters,  and  the  satires  of 
the  time.11 

While  Ferdinand’s  presence  was  more  than  ever  necessary 
to  support  the  drooping  spirits  of  his  party  in  Castile,  he 
was  unexpectedly  summoned  into  Aragon  to  the  assistance 
of  his  father.  No  sooner  had  Barcelona  submitted  to  king 
John,  as  mentioned  in  a preceding  chapter,12  than  the  in- 
habitants of  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne,  which  provinces,  it 
will  be  remembered,  were  placed  in  the  custody  of  France, 
as  a guaranty  for  the  king  of  Aragon’s  engagements,  op- 
pressed by  the  grievous  exactions  of  their  new  rulers,  deter- 
mined to  break  the  yoke,  and  to  put  themselves  again  under 
the  protection  of  their  ancient  master,  provided  they  could 
obtain  his  support.  The  opportunity  was  favorable.  A 
large  part  of  the  garrisons  in  the  principal  cities  had  been 
withdrawn  by  Louis  the  Eleventh,  to  cover  the  frontier  on 
the  side  of  Burgundy  and  Brittany.  John,  therefore,  gladly 
embraced  the  proposal;  and  on  a concerted  day  a simul- 
taneous insurrection  took  place  throughout  the  provinces, 
when  such  of  the  French,  in  the  principal  towns,  as  had  not 
the  good  fortune  to  escape  into  the  citadels,  were  indis- 
criminately massacred.  Of  all  the  country,  Salces,  Collioure, 
and  the  castle  of  Perpignan  alone  remained  in  the  hands  of 
the  French.  John  then  threw  himself  into  the  last-named 
city  with  a small  body  of  forces,  and  instantly  set  about  the 
construction  of  works  to  protect  the  inhabitants  against  the 
fire  of  the  French  garrison  in  the  castle,  as  well  as  from 
the  army  which  might  soon  be  expected  to  besiege  them 
from  without.13 

Louis  the  Eleventh,  deeply  incensed  at  the  defection  of 
his  new  subjects,  ordered  the  most  formidable  preparations 
for  the  siege  of  their  capital.  John’s  officers,  alarmed  at 
these  preparations,  besought  him  not  to  expose  his  person  at 
his  advanced  age  to  the  perils  of  a siege  and  of  captivity. 
But  the  lion-hearted  monarch  saw  the  necessity  of  animating 
the  spirits  of  the  besieged  by  his  own  presence;  and,  assem- 
bling the  inhabitants  in  one  of  the  churches  of  the  city,  he 
exhorted  them  resolutely  to  stand  to  their  defence,  and  made 
a solemn  oath  to  abide  the  issue  with  them  to  the  last. 

Louis,  in  the  mean  while,  had  convoked  the  ban  and  arriere- 
ban  of  the  contiguous  French  provinces,  and  mustered  an 
array  of  chivalry  and  feudal  militia,  amounting,  according 
to  the  Spanish  historians,  to  thirty  thousand  men.  With  these 
ample  forces,  his  lieutenant-general,  the  duke  of  Savoy, 
closely  invested  Perpignan;  and,  as  he  was  provided  with  a 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV. 


133 


numerous  train  of  battering  artillery,  instantly  opened  a 
heavy  fire  on  the  inhabitants.  John,  thus  exposed  to  the 
double  fire  of  the  fortress  and  the  besiegers,  was  in  a very 
critical  situation.  Far  from  being  disheartened,  however,  he 
was  seen,  armed  cap-a-pie,  on  horseback  from  dawn  till  even- 
ing, rallying  the  spirits  of  his  troops,  and  always  present  at 
the  point  of  danger.  He  succeeded  perfectly  in  communi- 
cating his  own  enthusiasm  to  the  soldiers.  The  French  gar- 
rison were  defeated  in  several  sorties,  and  their  governor 
taken  prisoner;  while  supplies  were  introduced  into  the  city 
in  the  very  face  of  the  blockading  army.14 

Ferdinand,  on  receiving  intelligence  of  his  father's  perilous 
situation,  instantly  resolved,  by  Isabella’s  advice,  to  march 
to  his  relief.  Putting  himself  at  the  head  of  a body  of  Cas- 
tilian horse,  generously  furnished  him  by  the  archbishop  of 
Toledo  and  his  friends,  he  passed  into  Aragon,  where  he  was 
speedily  joined  by  the  principal  nobility  of  the  kingdom,  and 
an  army  amounting  in  all  to  thirteen  hundred  lances  and 
seven  thousand  infantry.  With  this  corps  he  rapidly  descend- 
ed the  Pyrenees,  by  the  way  of  Manganara,  in  the  face  of  a 
driving  tempest,  which  concealed  him  for  some  time  from  the 
view  of  the  enemy.  The  latter,  during  their  protracted 
operations,  for  nearly  three  months,  had  sustained  a serious 
diminution  of  numbers  in  their  repeated  skirmishes  with  the 
besieged,  and  still  more  from  an  epidemic  which  broke  out 
in  their  camp.  They  also  began  to  suffer  not  a little  from 
want  of  provisions.  At  this  crisis,  the  apparition  of  this  new 
army,  thus  unexpectedly  descending  on  their  rear,  filled  them 
with  such  consternation,  that  they  raised  the  siege  at  once, 
setting  fire  to  their  tents,  and  retreating  with  such  precipita- 
tion as  to  leave  most  of  the  sick  and  wounded  a prey  to  the 
devouring  element.  John  marched  out,  with  colors  flying 
and  music  playing,  at  the  head  of  his  little  band,  to  greet  his 
deliverers;  and,  after  an  affecting  interview  in  the  presence 
of  the  two  armies,  the  father  and  son  returned  in  triumph 
into  Perpignan.15 

The  French  army,  reinforced  by  command  of  Louis,  made 
a second  ineffectual  attempt  (their  own  writers  call  it  only  a 
feint)  upon  the  city;  and  the  campaign  was  finally  concluded 
by  a treaty  between  the  two  monarchs,  in  which  it  was  ar- 
ranged that  the  king  of  Aragon  should  disburse  within  the 
year  the  sum  originally  stipulated  for  the  services  rendered 
him  by  Louis  in  his  late  war  with  his  Catalan  subjects;  and 
that,  in  case  of  failure,  the  provinces  of  Roussillon  and  Cer- 
dagne  should  be  permanently  ceded  to  the  French  crown 


134 


TROUBLES  IN  CASTILE  AND  ARAGON. 


The  commanders  of  the  fortified  places  in  the  contested  terri- 
tory, selected  by  one  monarch  from  the  nominations  of  the 
other,  were  excused  during  the  interim  from  obedience  to 
the  mandates  of  either;  at  least  so  far  as  they  might  contra- 
vene their  reciprocal  engagements.16 

There  is  little  reason  to  believe  that  this  singular  compact 
was  subscribed  in  good  faith  by  either  party.  John,  notwith- 
standing the  temporary  succor  which  he  had  received  from 
Louis  at  the  commencement  of  his  difficulties  with  the  Cata- 
lans, might  justly  complain  of  the  infraction  of  his  engage- 
ments, at  a subsequent  period  of  the  war;  when  he  net  only 
withheld  the  stipulated  aid,  but  indirectly  gave  every  facility 
in  his  power  to  the  invasion  of  the  duke  of  Lorraine. 
Neither  was  the  king  of  Aragon  in  a situation,  had  he  been 
disposed,  to  make  the  requisite  disbursements.  Louis,  on  the 
other  hand,  as  the  event  soon  proved,  had  no  other  object 
in  view  but  to  gain  time  to  reorganize  his  army,  and  to  lull 
his  adversary  into  security,  while  he  took  effectual  measures 
for  recovering  the  prize  which  had  so  unexpectedly  eluded 
him. 

During  these  occurrences  Isabella’s  prospects  were  daily 
brightening  in  Castile.  The  duke  of  Guienne,  the  destined 
spouse  of  her  rival  Joanna,  had  died  in  France;  but  not  until 
he  had  testified  his  contempt  of  his  engagements  with  the 
Castilian  princess  by  openly  soliciting  the  hand  of  the  heiress 
of  Burgundy.17  Subsequent  negotiations  for  her  marriage 
with  two  other  princes  had  entirely  failed.  The  doubts  which 
hung  over  her  birth,  and  which  the  public  protestations  of 
Henry  and  his  queen,  far  from  dispelling,  served  only  to 
augment,  by  the  necessity  which  they  implied  for  such  an  ex- 
traordinary proceeding,  were  sufficient  to  deter  any  one  from 
a connection,  which  must  involve  the  party  in  all  the  disasters 
of  a civil  war.18 

Isabella’s  own  character,  moreover,  contributed  essentially 
to  strengthen  her  cause.  Her  sedate  conduct,  and  the  de- 
corum maintained  in  her  court,  formed  a strong  contrast  with 
the  frivolity  and  license  which  disgraced  that  of  Henry  and 
his  consort.  Thinking  men  were  led  to  conclude  that  the 
sagacious  administration  of  Isabella  must  eventually  secure 
to  her  the  ascendency  over  her  rival;  while  all,  who  sincerely 
loved  their  country,  could  not  but  prognosticate  for  it,  under 
her  beneficent  sway,  a degree  of  prosperity,  which  it  could 
never  reach  under  the  rapacious  and  profligate  ministers 
who  directed  the  councils  of  Henry,  and  most  probably  would 
continue  to  direct  those  of  his  daughter. 


THE  PASS  NEAR  PERPIGNAN. 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV. 


135 


Among  the  persons  whose  opinions  experienced  a decided 
revolution  from  these  considerations,  was  Pedro  Gonzalez  de 
Mendoza,  archbishop  of  Seville  and  cardinal  of  Spain;  a pre- 
late, whose  lofty  station  in  the  church  was  supported  by 
talents  of  the  highest  order,  and  whose  restless  ambition  led 
him,  like  many  of  the  churchmen  of  the  time,  to  take  an  active 
interest  in  politics,  for  which  he  was  admirably  adapted  by 
his  knowledge  of  affairs  and  discernment  of  character.  With- 
out deserting  his  former  master,  he  privately  entered  into  a 
correspondence  with  Isabella;  and  a service,  which  Ferdi- 
nand, on  his  return  from  Aragon,  had  an  opportunity  of  ren- 
dering the  duke  of  Infantado,  the  head  of  the  Mendozas,19 
secured  the  attachment  of  the  other  -members  of  this  power- 
ful family.20 

A circumstance  occurred  at  this  time,  which  seemed  to 
promise  an  accommodation  between  the  adverse  factions,  or 
at  least  between  Henry  and  his  sister.  The  government  cf 
Segovia,  whose  impregnable  citadel  had  been  made  the  de- 
pository of  the  royal  treasure,  was  intrusted  to  Andreas  de 
Cabrera,  an  officer  of  the  king’s  household.  This  cavalier, 
influenced  in  part  by  personal  pique  to  the  grand  master  of 
St.  James,  and  still  more  perhaps  by  the  importunities  of  his 
wife,  Beatriz  de  Bobadilla,  the  early  friend  and  companion  of 
Isabella,  entered  into  a correspondence  with  the  princess, 
and  sought  to  open  the  way  for  her  permanent  reconciliation 
with  her  brother.  He  accordingly  invited  her  to  Segovia, 
where  Henry  occasionally  resided,  and,  to  dispel  any  sus- 
picions which  she  might  entertain  of  his  sincerity,  despatched 
his  wife  secretly  by  night,  disguised  in  the  garb  of  a peasant, 
to  Aranda,  where  Isabella  then  held  her  court.  The  latter 
confirmed  by  the  assurances  of  her  friend,  did  not  hesitate 
to  comply  with  the  invitation,  and,  accompanied  by  the  arch- 
bishop of  Toledo,  proceeded  to  Segovia,  where  an  interview 
took  place  between  her  and  Henry  the  Fourth,  in  which  she 
vindicated  her  past  conduct,  and  endeavored  to  obtain  her 
brother’s  sanction  to  her  union  with  Ferdinand.  Henry, 
who  was  naturally  of  a placable  temper,  received  her  com- 
munication with  complacency,  and,  in  order  to  give  public 
demonstration  of  the  good  understanding  now  subsisting  be- 
tween him  and  his  sister,  condescended  to  walk  by  her  side, 
holding  the  bridle  of  her  palfrey,  as  she  rode  along  the 
streets  of  the  city.  Ferdinand,  on  his  return  into  Castile, 
hastened  to  Segovia,  where  he  w~as  welcomed  by  the  monarch 
with  every  appearance  of  satisfaction.  A succession  of  fetes 
and  splendid  entertainments,  at  which  both  parties  assisted, 


136  TROUBLES  IN  CASTILE  AND  ARAGON. 

seemed  to  announce  an  entire  oblivion  of  all  past  animosi- 
ties, and  the  nation  welcomed  with  satisfaction  these  symp- 
toms of  repose  after  the  vexatious  struggle  by  which  it  had 
been  so  long  agitated.21 

The  repose,  however,  was  of  no  great  duration.  The 
slavish  mind  of  Henry  gradually  relapsed  under  its  ancient 
bondage;  and  the  grand  master  of  St.  James  succeeded,  in 
consequence  of  an  illness  with  which  the  monarch  was  sud- 
denly seized  after  an  entertainment  given  by  Cabrera,  in 
infusing  into  his  mind  suspicions  of  an  attempt  at  assassina- 
tion. Henry  was  so  far  incensed  or  alarmed  by  the  sugges- 
tion, that  he  concerted  a scheme  for  privately  seizing  the 
person  of  his  sister,  which  was  defeated  by  her  own  prudence 
and  the  vigilance  of  her  friends.22  But,  if  the  visit  to  Sego- 
via failed  in  its  destined  purpose  of  a reconciliation  with 
Henry,  it  was  attended  with  the  important  consequence  of 
securing  to  Isabella  a faithful  partisan  in  Cabrera,  who,  from 
the  control  which  his  situation  gave  him  over  the  royal 
coffers,  proved  a most  seasonable  ally  in  her  subsequent 
struggle  with  Joanna. 

Not  long  after  this  event,  Ferdinand  received  another 
summons  from  his  father  to  attend  him  in  Aragon,  where  the 
storm  of  war,  which  had  been  for  some  time  gathering  in 
the  distance,  now  burst  with  pitiless  fury.  In  the  beginning 
of  February,  1474,  an  embassy  consisting  of  two  principal 
nobles,  accompanied  by  a brilliant  train  of  cavaliers  and  at- 
tendants, had  been  deputed  by  John  to  the  court  of  Louis 
XI.,  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  settling  the  preliminaries 
of  the  marriage,  previously  agreed  on,  between  the  dauphin 
and  the  infanta  Isabella,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
then  little  more  than  three  years  of  age.23  The  real  object 
of  the  mission  was  to  effect  some  definite  adjustment  or  com- 
promise of  the  differences  relating  to  the  contested  territories 
of  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne.  The  king  of  France,  who, 
notwithstanding  his  late  convention  with  John,  was  making 
active  preparations  for  the  forcible  occupation  of  these  pro- 
vinces, determined  to  gain  time  by  amusing  the  ambassadors 
with  a show  of  negotiation,  and  interposing  every  obstacle 
which  his  ingenuity  could  devise  to  their  progress  through 
his  dominions.  He  succeeded  so  well  in  this  latter  part  of 
his  scheme,  that  the  embassy  did  not  reach  Paris  until  the 
close  of  Lent.  Louis,  who  seldom  resided  in  his  capital, 
took  good  care  to  be  absent  at  this  season.  The  ambassa- 
dors in  the  interim  were  entertained  with  balls,  fetes , military 
reviews,  and  whatever  else  might  divert  them  from  the  real 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV. 


137 


objects  of  their  mission.  All  communication  was  cut  off 
with  their  own  government,  as  their  couriers  were  stopped 
and  their  despatches  intercepted,  so  that  John  knew  as  little 
of  his  envoys  or  their  proceedings,  as  if  they  had  been  in 
Siberia  or  Japan.  In  the  meantime,  formidable  preparations 
were  making  in  the  south  of  France  for  a descent  on  Roussil- 
lon; and  when  the  ambassadors,  after  a fruitless  attempt  at 
negotiation,  which  evaporated  in  mutual  crimination  ancj  re- 
crimination, set  out  on  their  return  to  Aragon,  they  were 
twice  detained,  at  Lyons  and  Montpelier,  from  an  extreme 
solicitude,  as  the  French  government  expressed  it,  to  ascer- 
tain the  safest  route  through  a country  intersected  by  hostile 
armies;  and  all  this,  notwithstanding  their  repeated  protes- 
tations against  this  obliging  disposition,  which  held  them 
prisoners,  in  opposition  to  their  own  will  and  the  law  of 
nations.  The  prince  who  descended  to  such  petty  trickery 
passed  for  the  wisest  of  his  time.24 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Seigneur  du  Lude  had  invaded 
Roussillon  at  the  head  of  nine  hundred  French  lancers  and 
ten  thousand  infantry,  supported  by  a powerful  train  of  ar- 
tillery, while  a fleet  of  Genoese  transports,  laden  with  sup- 
plies, accompanied  the  army  along  the  coast.  Elna  surren- 
dered after  a sturdy  resistance;  the  governor  and  some  of 
the  principal  prisoners  were  shamefully  beheaded  as  traitors; 
and  the  French  then  proceeded  to  invest  Perpignan.  The 
king  of  Aragon  was  so  much  impoverished  by  the  incessant 
wars  in  which  he  had  been  engaged,  that  he  was  not  only  un- 
able to  recruit  his  army,  but  was  even  obliged  to  pawn  the 
robe  of  costly  fur,  which  he  wore  to  defend  his  person  against 
the  inclemencies  of  the  season,  in  order  to  defray  the  ex- 
pense of  transporting  his  baggage.  In  this  extremity,  find- 
ing himself  disappointed  in  the  cooperation,  on  which  he 
had  reckoned,  of  his  ancient  allies  the  dukes  of  Burgundy 
and  Bittainy,  he  again  summoned  Ferdinand  to  his  assistance 
who,  after  a brief  interview  with  his  father  in  Barcelona, 
proceeded  to  Saragossa,  to  solicit  aid  from  the  estates  of 
Aragon. 

An  incident  occurred  on  this  visit  of  the  prince  worth  no- 
ticing, as  strongly  characteristic  of  the  lawless  habits  of  the 
age.  A citizen  of  Saragossa,  named  Ximenes  Gordo,  of  no- 
ble family,  but  who  had  relinquished  the  privileges  of  his 
rank  in  order  to  qualify  himself  for  municipal  office,  had  ac- 
quired such  ascendency  over  his  townsmen,  as  to  engross 
the  most  considerable  posts  in  the  city  for  himself  and  his 
creatures.  This  authority  he  abused  in  a shameless  manner 


138  TROUBLES  IN  CASTILE  AND  ARAGON. 

making  use  of  it  not  only  for  the  perversion  of  justice,  but 
for  the  perpetration  of  the  most  flagrant  crimes-  Although 
these  facts  were  notorious,  yet  such  were  his  power  and 
popularity  with  the  lower  classes,  that  Ferdinand,  despair- 
ing of  bringing  him  to  justice  in  the  ordinary  way,  deter- 
mined on  a more  summary  process.  As  Gordo  occasionally 
visited  the  palace  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  prince,  the 
latter  affected  to  regard  him  with  more  than  usual  favor, 
showing  him  such  courtesy  as  might  dissipate  any  distrust 
he  had  conceived  of  him.  Gordo,  thus  asssured,  was  invited 
at  one  of  those  interviews  to  withdraw  into  a retired  apart- 
ment, where  the  prince  wished  to  confer  with  him  on  busi- 
ness of  moment.  On  entering  the  chamber  he  was  sur- 
prised by  the  sight  of  the  public  executioner,  the  hangman 
of  the  city,  whose  presence  together  with  that  of  a priest, 
and  the  apparatus  of  death  with  which  the  apartment  was 
garnished,  revealed  at  once  the  dreadful  nature  of  his 
destiny. 

He  was  then  charged  with  the  manifold  crimes  of  which 
he  had  been  guilty,  and  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced 
on  him.  In  vain  did  he  appeal  to  Ferdinand,  pleading  the 
services  which  he  had  rendered  cn  more  than  one  occasion 
to  his  father.  Ferdinand  assured  him,  that  these  should  be 
gratefully  remembered  in  the  protection  of  his  children,  and 
then,  bidding  him  unburden  his  conscience  to  his  confessor, 
consigned  him  to  the  hand  of  the  executioner.  His  body 
was  exposed  that  very  day  in  the  market-place  of  the  city, 
to  the  dismay  of  his  friends  and  adherents,  most  of  whom 
paid  the  penalty  of  their  crimes  in  the  ordinary  course  of  jus- 
tice. This  extraordinary  proceeding  is  highly  characteristic 
of  the  unsettled  times  in  which  it  occurred;  when  acts  of 
violence  often  superseded  the  regular  operation  of  the  law, 
even  in  those  countries,  whose  forms  of  government  ap- 
proached the  nearest  to  a determinate  constitution.  It  will 
doubtless  remind  the  reader  of  the  similar  proceeding  im- 
puted to  Louis  the  Eleventh,  in  the  admirable  sketch  given 
us  of  that  monarch  in  “Quentin  Durward.”25 

The  supplies  furnished  by  the  Aragonese  cortes  were  in- 
adequate to  king  John’s  necessities,  and  he  was  compelled, 
while  hovering  with  his  little  force  on  the  confines  of  Rous- 
sillon, to  witness  the  gradual  reduction  of  its  capital,  without 
being  able  to  strike  a blow  in  its  defence.  The  inhabitants, 
indeed,  who  fought  with  a resolution  worthy  of  ancient 
Numantia  or  Saguntum,  were  reduced  to  the  last  extremity 
of  famine,  supporting  life  by  feeding  on  the  most  loathsome 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV. 


139 


offal,  on  cats,  dogs,  the  corpses  of  their  enemies,  and  even 
on  such  of  their  own  dead  as  had  fallen  in  battle!  And  when 
at  length  an  honorable  capitulation  was  granted  them  on  the 
14th  of  March,  1475,  the  garrison  who  evacuated  the  city, 
reduced  to  the  number  of  four  hundred,  were  obliged  to 
march  on  foot  to  Barcelona,  as  they  had  consumed  their 
horses  during  the  siege.26 

The  terms  of  capitulation,  which  permitted  every  inhabi- 
tant to  evacuate,  or  reside  unmolested  in  the  city,  at  his 
option,  were  too  liberal  to  satisfy  the  vindictive  temper  of 
the  king  of  France.  He  instantly  wrote  to  his  generals,  in- 
structing them  to  depart  from  their  engagements,  to  keep 
the  city  so  short  of  supplies  as  to  compel  an  emigration  of  its 
original  inhabitants,  and  to  confiscate  for  their  own  use  the 
estates  of  the  principal  nobility  ; and  after  delineating  in 
detail  the  perfidious  policy  which  they  were  to  pursue,  he 
concluded  with  the  assurance,  “that,  by  the  blessing  of  God 
and  our  Lady,  and  Monsieur  St.  Martin,  he  would  be  with 
them  before  the  winter,  in  order  to  aid  them  in  its  execu- 
tion.”27 Such  was  the  miserable  medley  of  hypocrisy  and 
superstition,  which  characterized  the  politics  of  the  European 
courts  in  this  corrupt  age,  and  which  dimmed  the  luster  of 
names,  most  conspicuous  on  the  page  of  history. 

The  occupation  of  Roussillon  was  followed  by  a truce  of 
six  months  between  the  belligerent  parties.  The  regular 
course  of  the  narrative  has  been  somewhat  anticipated,  in 
order  to  conclude  that  portion  of  it  relating  to  the  war  with 
France,  before  again  reverting  to  the  affairs  of  Castile,  where 
Henry  the  Fourth,  pining  under  an  incurable  malady,  was 
gradually  approaching  the  termination  of  his  disastrous  reign. 

This  event,  which,  from  the  momentous  consequences  it 
involved,  was  contemplated  with  the  deepest  solicitude,  not 
only  by  those  who  had  an  immediate  and  persona1  interest  at 
stake,  but  by  the  whole  nation,  took  place  on  the  night  of 
the  nth  of  December,  1474. 28  It  was  precipitated  by  the 
death  of  the  grand  master  of  St.  James,  on  whom  the  feeble 
mind  of  Henry  had  been  long  accustomed  to  rest  for  its  sup- 
port, and  who  was  cut  off  by  an  acute  disorder  but  a few 
months  previous,  in  the  full  prime  of  his  ambitious  schemes. 
The  king,  notwithstanding  the  lingering  nature  of  his  disease 
gave  him  ample  time  for  preparation,  expired  without  a will, 
or  even,  as  generally  asserted,  the  designation  of  a successor. 
This  was  the  more  remarkable,  not  only  as  being  contrary  to 
established  usage,  but  as  occurring  at  a period  when  the  suc- 
cession had  been  so  long  and  hotly  debated.29  The  testa- 


140 


TROUBLES  IN  CASTILE  AND  ARAGON. 


ments  of  the  Castilian  sovereigns,  though  never  esteemed 
positively  binding,  and  occasionally,  indeed,  set  aside,  when 
deemed  unconstitutional  or  even  inexpedient  by  the  legisla- 
ture,30 were  always  allowed  to  have  great  weight  with  the 
nation. 

With  Henry  the  Fourth  terminated  the  male  line  of  the 
house  of  Trastamara,  who  had  kept  possession  of  the  throne 
for  more  than  a century,  and  in  the  course  of  only  four  gen- 
erations had  exhibited  every  gradation  of  character  from  the 
bold  and  chivalrous  enterprise  of  the  first  Henry  of  that 
name,  down  to  the  drivelling  imbecility  of  the  last. 

The  character  of  Henry  the  Fourth  has  been  sufficiently 
delineated  in  that  of  his  reign.  He  was  not  without  certain 
amiable  qualities,  and  may  be  considered  as  a weak,  rather 
than  a wicked  prince.  Ir.  persons,  however,  intrusted  with 
the  degree  of  power  exercised  by  sovereigns  of  even  the  most 
limited  monarchies  of  this  period,  a weak  man  may  be  deemed 
more  mischievous  to  the  state  over  v7hich  he  presides  than  a 
wicked  one.  The  latter,  feeling  himself  responsible  in  the 
eyes  of  the  nation  for  his  actions,  is  more  likely  to  consult 
appearances,  and,  where  his  own  passions  or  interests  are 
not  immediately  involved,  to  legislate  with  reference  to  the 
general  interests  of  his  subjects.  The  former,  on  the  con- 
trary, is  too  often  a mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  favorites,  who, 
finding  themselves  screened  by  the  interposition  of  royal 
authority  from  the  consequences  of  measures  for  which  they 
should  be  justly  responsible,  sacrifice  without  remorse  the 
public  weal  to  the  advancement  of  their  private  fortunes. 
Thus  the  state,  made  to  minister  to  the  voracious  appetites 
of  many  tyrants,  suffers  incalculably  more  than  it  would 
from  one.  So  fared  it  with  Castile  under  Henry  the  Fourth; 
dismembered  by  faction,  her  revenues  squandered  on  worth- 
less parasites,  the  grossest  violations  of  justice  unredressed, 
public  faith  become  a jest,  the  treasury  bankrupt,  the  court 
a brothel,  and  private  morals  too  loose  and  audacious  to 
seek  even  the  veil  of  hypocrisy!  Never  had  the  fortunes  of 
the  kingdom  reached  so  low  an  ebb  since  the  great  Saracen 
invasion. 


The  historian  cannot  complain  of  a want  of  authentic  materials  for  the 
reign  of  Henry  IV.  Two  of  the  chroniclers  of  that  period,  Alonso  de 
Palencia  and  Enriquez  del  Castillo,  were  eyewitnesses  and  conspicuous 
actcrs  in  the  scenes  which  they  recorded,  and  connected  with  opposite  fac- 
tions. The  former  of  these  writers,  Alonso  de  Palencia,  was  born,  as 
appears  from  his  work,  “De  Synonymis,”  cited  by  Pellicer  (Bibliotheca  de 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV. 


141 

Traductores,  p.  7),  in  1423.  Nic.  Antonio  has  fallen  into  the  error  of 
dating  his  birth  nine  years  later.  (Bibliotheca  Vetus,  tom.  ii.  p.  331).  At 
the  age  of  seventeen,  he  became  page  to  Alfonso  of  Carthagena,  bishop 
of  Burgos,  and,  in  the  family  of  that  estimable  prelate,  acquired  a taste 
for  letters,  which  never  deserted  him  during  a busy  political  career.  He 
afterward  visited  Italy,  where  he  became  acquainted  with  Cardinal  Bes- 
sarion,  and  through  him  with  the  learned  Greek  Trapezuntius,  whose  lec- 
tures on  philosophy  and  rhetoric  he  attended.  On  his  return  to  his  native 
country,  he  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  royal  historiographer  by  Alfonso, 
younger  brother  of  Henry  IV.,  and  competitor  with  him  for  the  crown. 
He  attached  himself  to  the  fortunes  of  Isabella,  after  Alfonso’s  death, 
and  was  employed  by  the  archbishop  of  Toledo  in  many  delicate  negotia- 
tions, particularly  in  arranging  the  marriage  of  the  princess  with  Ferdinand, 
for  which  purpose  he  made  a secret  journey  into  Aragon.  On  the  accession 
of  Isabella,  he  was  confirmed  in  the  office  of  national  chronicler,  and 
passed  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  the  composition  of  philological  and  his- 
torical works  and  translations  from  the  ancient  classics.  The  time  of  his 
death  is  uncertain.  He  lived  to  a good  old  age,  however,  since  it  appears 
from  his  own  statement  (see  Mendez,  Typographia  Espanola  (Madrid, 
1796),  p.  190),  that  his  version  of  Josephus  was  not  completed  till  the  year 
I492- 

The  most  popular  of  Palencia”s  writings,  are  his  “Chronicle  of  Henry 
IV.,”  and  his  Latin  “Decades,”  continuing  the  reign  of  Isabella  down  to 
the  capture  of  Baza,  in  1489.  His  historical  style,  far  from  scholastic 
pedantry,  exhibits  the  business-like  manner  of  a man  of  the  world.  His 
Chronicle,  which,  being  composed  in  the  Castilian,  was  probably  intended 
for  popular  use,  is  conducted  with  little  artifice,  and  indeed  with  a pro- 
lixity and  minuteness  of  detail,  arising  no  doubt  from  the  deep  interest 
which  as  an  actor  he  took  in  the  scenes  he  describes.  His  sentiments 
are  expressed  with  boldness,  and  sometimes  with  the  acerbity  of  party  feel- 
ing. He  has  been  much  commended  by  the  best  Spanish  writers,  such  as 
Zurita,  Zuniga,  Marina,  Clemencin,  for  his  veracity.  The  internal  evi- 
dence of  this  is  sufficiently  strong  in  his  delineation  of  those  scenes  in 
which  he  was  personally  engaged;  in  his  account  of  others,  it  will  not  be 
difficult  to  find  examples  of  negligence  and  inaccuracy.  His  Latin 
“Decades”  were  probably  composed  with  more  care,  as  addressed  to  a 
learned  class  of  readers;  and  they  are  lauded  by  Nic.  Antonio  as  an  elegant 
commentary,  worthy  to  be  assiduously  studied  by  all  who  would  acquaint 
themselves  with  the  history  of  their  country.  The  art  of  printing  has  done 
less  perhaps  for  Spain  than  for  any  other  country  in  Europe;  and  these 
two  valuable  histories  are  still  permitted  to  swell  the  rich  treasure  of  man- 
uscripts with  which  the  libraries  are  overloaded. 

Enriquez  del  Castillo,  a native  of  Segovia,  was  the  chaplain  and  his- 
toriographer of  King  Henry  IV.,  and  a member  of  his  privy  council.  His 
situation  not  only  made  him  acquainted  with  the  policy  and  intrigues  of  the 
court,  but  with  the  personal  feelings  of  the  monarch,  who  reposed  entire 
confidence  in  him,  which  Castillo  repaid  with  uniform  loyalty.  He  appears 
very  early  to  have  commenced  his  Chronicle  of  Henry’s  reign.  On  the 
occupation  of  Segovia  by  the  young  Alfonso,  after  the  battle  of  Olmedo, 
in  1467,  the  chronicler,  together  with  the  portion  of  his  history  then  com- 
piled, was  unfortunate  enough  to  fall  into  the  enemy’s  hands.  The  author 
was  soon  summoned  to  the  presence  of  Alfonso  and  his  counsellors,  to  hear 
and  justify,  as  he  could,  certain  passages  of  what  they  termed  his  “false 
and  frivolous  narrative.”  Castillo,  hoping  little  from  a defence  before  such 
a prejudiced  tribunal,  resolutely  kept  his  peace;  and  it  might  have  gone 


142 


TROUBLES  IN  CASTILE  AND  ARAGON. 


hard  with  him,  had  it  not  been  for  his  ecclesiastical  profession.  He  subse- 
quently escaped,  but  never  recovered  his  manuscripts,  which  were  probably 
destroyed;  and,  in  the  Introduction  to  his  Chronicle,  he  laments,  that  he 
has  been  obliged  to  rewrite  the  first  half  of  his  master’s  reign. 

Notwithstanding  Castillo’s  familiarity  with  public  affairs,  his  work  is  not 
written  in  the  business-like  style  of  Palencia’s.  The  sentiments  exhibit  a 
moral  sensibility  scarcely  to  have  been  expected,  even  from  a minister  of 
religion,  in  the  corrupt  court  of  Henry  IV. ; and  the  honest  indignation 
of  the  writer,  at  the  abuses  which  he  witnessed,  sometimes  breaks  forth 
in  a strain  of  considerable  eloquence.  The  spirit  of  his  work,  notwithstand- 
ing its  abundant  loyalty,  may  be  also  commended  for  its  candor  in  relation 
to  the  partisans  of  Isabella;  which  has  led  some  critics  to  suppose  that  it 
underwent  a rifacimento  after  the  accession  of  that  princess  to  the  throne. 

Castilloo’s  Chronicle,  more  fortunate  than  that  of  his  rival,  has  been 
published  in  a handsome  form  under  the  care  of  Don  Jose  Miguel  de 
Flores,  Secretary  of  the  Spanish  Academy  of  History,  to  whose  learned 
labors  in  this  way  Castilian  literature  is  so  much  indebted. 


CHAPTER  Y. 


ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. WAR  OF  THE 

SUCCESSION. BATTLE  OF  TORO. 

1474—1476. 

Isabella  proclaimed  Queen. — Settlement  of  the  Crown. — Alfonso  of  Portu- 
gal supports  Joanna, — Invades  Castile. — Retreat  of  the  Castilians. — 
Appropriation  of  the  Church  Plate. — Reorganization  of  the  Army. — ■ 
Battle  of  Toro. — Submission  of  the  whole  Kingdom. — Peace  with 
France  and  Portugal. — Joanna  takes  the  Veil. — Death  of  John  II.,  of 
Aragon. 

Most  of  the  contemporary  writers  are  content  to  derive 
Isabella’s  title  to  the  crown  of  Castile  from  the  illegitimacy 
of  her  rival  Joanna.  But,  as  this  fact,  whatever  probability 
it  may  receive  from  the  avowed  licentiousness  of  the  queen, 
and  some  other  collateral  circumstances,  was  never  estab- 
lished by  legal  evidnece,  or  even  made  the  subject  of  legal 
inquiry,  it  cannot  reasonably  be  adduced  as  affording  in 
itself  a satisfactory  basis  for  the  pretensions  of  Isabella.1 

These  are  to  be  derived  from  the  will  of  the  nation  as  ex- 
pressed by  its  representatives  in  cortes.  The  power  of  this 
body  to  interpret  the  laws  regulating  the  succession,  and  to 
determine  the  succession  itself,  in  the  most  absolute  manner, 
is  incontrovertible,  having  been  established  by  repeated  pre- 
cedents from  a very  ancient  period.2  In  the  present  in- 
stance, the  legislature,  soon  after  the  birth  of  Joanna,  ten- 
dered the  usual  oaths  of  allegiance  to  her  as  heir  apparent 
to  the  monarchy.  On  a subsequent  occasion,  however, 
the  cortes,  for  reasons  deemed  sufficient  by  itself,  and  under 
a conviction  that  its  consent  to  the  preceding  measure  had 
been  obtained  through  an  undue  influence  on  the  part  of 
the  crown,  reversed  its  former  acts,  and  did  homage  to 
Isabella  as  the  only  true  and  lawful  successor.3  In  this 
disposition  the  legislature  continued  so  resolute,  that,  not- 
withstanding Henry  twice  convoked  the  states  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  renewing  their  allegiance  to  Joanna,  they 
refused  to  comply  with  the  summons;4  and  thus  Isabella, 


144 


ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


at  the  time  of  her  brother’s  death,  possessed  a title  to  the 
crown  unimpaired,  and  derived  from  the  sole  authority  which 
could  give  it  a constitutional  validity.  It  may  be  added 
that  the  princess  was  so  well  aware  of  the  real  basis  of  her 
pretensions,  that  in  her  several  manifestoes,  although  she 
adverts  to  the  popular  notion  of  her  rival’s  illegitimacy,  she 
rests  the  strength  of  her  cause  on  the  sanction  of  the  cortes. 

On  learning  Henry’s  death,  Isabella  signified  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  Segovia,  where  she  then  resided,  her  desire  of 
being  proclaimed  queen  in  that  city,  with  the  solemnities 
usual  on  such  occasions.5  Accordingly,  on  the  following 
morning,  being  the  13th  of  December,  1474,  a numerous 
assembly,  consisting  of  the  nobles,  clergy,  and  public  mag- 
istrates in  their  robes  of  office,  waited  on  her  at  the  alcazar 
or  castle,  and,  receiving  her  under  a canopy  of  rich  brocade, 
escorted  her  in  solemn  procession  to  the  principal  square  of 
the  city,  where  a broad  platform  or  scaffold  had  been  erected 
for  the  performance  of  the  ceremony.  Isabella,  royally 
attired,  rode  on  a Spanish  jennet  whose  bridle  was  held  by 
two  of  the  civic  functionaries,  while  an  officer  of  her  court 
preceded  her  on  horseback,  bearing  aloft  a naked  sword, 
the  symbol  of  sovereignty.  On  arriving  at  the  square  she 
alighted  from  her  palfrey,  and,  ascending  the  platform, 
seated  herself  on  a throne  which  had  been  prepared  for  her. 
A herald  with  a loud  voice  proclaimed/' Castile,  Castile  for 
the  king  Don  Ferdinand  and  his  consort  Dona  Isabella, 
queen  proprietor  ( reina  proprietaries)  of  these  kingdoms!” 
The  royal  standards  were  then  unfurled,  while  the  peal  of 
bells  and  the  discharge  of  ordnance  from  the  castle  publicly 
announced  the  accession  of  the  new  sovereign.  Isabella, 
after  receiving  the  homage  of  her  subjects,  and  swearing  to 
maintain  inviolate  the  liberties  of  the  realm,  descended  from 
the  platform,  and,  attended  by  the  same  cortege , moved 
slowly  towards  the  cathedral  church;  where,  after  Te  Deum 
had  been  chanted,  she  prostrated  herself  before  the  principal 
altar,  and,  returning  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  the  protec- 
tion hitherto  vouchsafed  her,  implored  him  to  enlighten  her 
future  counsels,  so  that  she  might  discharge  the  high  trust 
reposed  in  her,  with  equity  and  wisdom.  Such  were  the 
simple  forms,  that  attended  the  coronation  of  the  monarchs 
of  Castile,  previously  to  the  sixteenth  century.6 

The  cities  favorable  to  Isabella’s  cause,  comprehending 
far  the  most  populous  and  wealthy  throughout  the  kingdom, 
followed  the  example  of  Segovia,  and  raised  the  royal  stand- 
ard for  their  new  sovereign.  The  principal  grandees,  as  well 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


MS 

as  most  of  the  inferior  nobility,  soon  presented  themselves 
from  all  quarters,  in  order  to  tender  the  customary  oaths  of 
allegiance;  and  an  assembly  of  the  estates,  convened  for 
the  ensuing  month  of  February  at  Segovia,  imparted,  by  a 
similar  ceremony,  a constitutional  sanction  to  these  proceed- 
ings.7 

On  Ferdinand’s  arrival  from  Aragon,  where  he  was  staying 
at  the  time  of  Henry’s  death,  occupied  with  the  war  of 
Roussillon,  a disagreeable  discussion  took  place  in  regard  to 
the  respective  authority  to  be  enjoyed  by  the  husband  and 
wife  in  the  administration  of  the  government.  Ferdinand’s 
relatives,  with  the  admiral  Henriquez  at  their  head,  con- 
tended that  the  crown  of  Castile,  and  of  course  the  exclu- 
sive sovereignty,  was  limited  to  him  as  the  nearest  male 
representative  of  the  house  of  Trastamara.  Isabella’s 
friends,  on  the  other  hand,' insisted  that  these  rights  de- 
voled  solely  on  her,  as  the  lawful  heir  and  proprietor  of 
the  kingdom.  The  affair  was  finally  referred  to  the  arbitra- 
tion of  the  cardinal  of  Spain  and  the  archbishop  of  Toledo, 
who,  after  careful  examination,  established  by  undoubted 
precedent,  that  the  exclusion  of  females  from  the  succession 
did  not  obtain  in  Castile  and  Leon,  as  was  the  case  in  Ara- 
gon;8 that  Isabella  was  consequently  sole  heir  of  these 
dominions;  and  that  whatever  authority  Ferdinand  might 
possess,  could  only  be  derived  through  her.  A settlement 
was  then  made  on  the  basis  of  the  original  marriage  con- 
tract.9 All  municipal  appointments,  and  collation  to  eccle- 
siastical benefices,  were  to  be  made  in  the  name  of  both  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  queen.  All  fiscal  nominations, 
and  issues  from  the  treasury,  were  to  be  subject  to  her 
order.  The  commanders  of  the  fortified  places  were  to 
render  homage  to  her  alone.  Justice  was  to  be  administered 
by  both  conjointly,  when  residing  in  the  same  place,  and  by 
each  independently,  when  separate.  Proclamations  and  let- 
ters patent  were  to  be  subscribed  with  the  signatures  of  both; 
their  images  were  to  be  stamped  on  the  public  coin,  and  the 
united  arms  of  Castile  and  Aragon  emblazoned  on  a common 
seal.10 

Ferdinand,  it  is  said,  was  so  much  dissatisfied  with  an 
arrangement  which  vested  the  essential  rights  of  sovereignty 
in  his  consort,  that  he  threatened  to  return  to  Aragon;  but 
Isabella  reminded  him,  that  this  distribution  of  power  was 
rather  nominal  than  real;  that  their  interests  were  indivisi- 
ble; that  his  will  would  be  hers;  and  that  the  principle  of 
the  exclusion  of  females  from  the  succession,  if  now  estab- 

VOL.  I.— 7. 


I46  ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

lished,  would  operate  to  the  disqualification  of  their  only 
child,  who  was  a daughter.  By  these  and  similar  arguments 
the  queen  succeeded  in  soothing  her  offended  husband, 
without  compromising  the  prerogatives  of  her  crown. 

Although  the  principal  body  of  the  nobility,  as  has  been 
stated,  supported  Isabella’s  cause,  there  were  a fewT  families, 
and  some  of  them  the  most  potent  in  Castile,  who  seemed 
determined  to  abide  the  fortunes  of  her  rival.  Among  these 
was  the  marquis  of  Villena,  who,  inferior  to  his  father  in 
talent  for  intrigue,  was  of  an  intrepid  spirit,  and  is  com- 
mended by  one  of  the  Spanish  historians  as  “the  best  lance 
in  the  kingdom.”  His  immense  estates,  stretching  from 
Toledo  to  Murcia,  gave  him  an  extensive  influence  over  the 
southern  regions  of  New  Castile.  The  duke  of  Arevalo  pos- 
sessed a similar  interest  in  the  frontier  province  of  Estrema- 
dura.  With  these  were  combined  the  grand  master  of  Cala- 
trava  and  his  brother,  together  with  the  young  marquis  of 
Cadiz,  and,  as  it  soon  appeared,  the  archbishop  of  Toledo. 
This  later  dignitary,  whose  heart  had  long  swelled  with  secret 
jealousy  at  the  rising  fortunes  of  the  cardinal  Mendoza, 
could  no  longer  brook  the  ascendency,  which  that  prelate’s 
consummate  sagacity  and  insinuating  address  had  given  him 
over  the  counsels  of  his  young  sovereigns.  After  some  awk- 
ward excuses,  he  abruptly  withdrew  to  his  own  estates;  nor 
could  the  most  conciliatory  advances  on  the  part  of  the  queen, 
nor  the  deprecatory  letters  of  the  old  king  of  Aragon,  soften 
his  inflexible  temper,  or  induce  him  to  resume  his  station  at 
the  court;  until  it  soon  became  apparent  from  his  correspond- 
ence with  Isabella’s  enemies,  that  he  was  busy  in  undermin- 
ing the  fortunes  of  the  very  individual,  whom  he  had  so  zeal- 
ously labored  to  elevate.11 

Under  the  auspices  of  this  coalition,  propositions  were 
made  to  Alfonso  the  Fifth,  king  of  Portugal,  to  vindicate 
the  title  of  his  niece  Joanna  to  the  throne  of  Castile,  and, 
by  espousing  her,  to  secure  to  himself  the  same  rich  inheri- 
tance. An  exaggerated  estimate  was,  at  the  same  time, 
exhibited  of  the  resources  of  the  confederates,  which,  when 
combined  with  those  of  Portugal,  would  readily  enable  them 
to  crush  the  usurpers,  unsupported,  as  the  latter  must  be,  by 
the  cooperation  of  Aragon,  whose  arms  already  found  suffi- 
cient occupation  with  the  French. 

Alfonso,  whose  victories  over  the  Barbary  Moors  had  given 
him  the  cognomen  of  “the  African,”  was  precisely  of  a 
character  to  be  dazzled  by  the  nature  of  this  enterprise. 
The  protection  of  an  injured  princess,  his  near  relative,  was 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


147 


congenial  with  the  spirit  of  chivalry;  while  the  conquest  of 
an  opulent  territory,  adjacent  to  his  own,  would  not  only 
satisfy  his  dreams  of  glory,  but  the  more  solid  cravings  of 
avarice.  In  this  disposition  he  was  confirmed  by  his  son, 
Prince  John,  whose  hot  and  enterprising  temper  found  a 
nobler  scope  for  ambition  in  such  a war,  than  in  the  con- 
quest of  a horde  of  African  savages.12  Still  there  were 
a few  among  Alfonso’s  counsellors,  possessed  of  sufficient 
coolness  to  discern  the  difficulties  of  the  undertaking.  They 
reminded  him,  that  the  Castilian  nobles,  on  whom  he  princi- 
pally relied,  were  the  very  persons  who  had  formerly  been 
most  instrumental  in  defeating  the  claims  of  Joanna,  and 
securing  the  succession  to  her  rival;  that  Ferdinand  was 
connected  by  blood  with  the  most  powerful  families  of 
Castile;  that  the  great  body  of  the  people,  the  middle  as  well 
as  the  lower  classes,  were  fully  penetrated  not  only  with  a 
conviction  of  the  legality  of  Isabella’s  title,  but  with  a deep 
attachment  to  her  person;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  their 
proverbial  hatred  of  Portugal  would  make  them  too  impatient 
of  interference  from  that  quarter,  to  admit  the  prospect  of 
permanent  success.13 

These  objections,  sound  as  they  were,  were  overruled  by 
John’s  impetuosity,  and  the  ambition  or  avarice  of  his  father. 
War  was  accordingly  resolved  on;  and  Alfonso,  after  a vaunt- 
ing, and,  as  may  be  supposed,  ineffectual  summons  to  the 
Castilian  sovereigns  to  resign  their  crown  in  favor  of  Joanna, 
prepared  for  the  immediate  invasion  of  the  kingdom  at  the 
head  of  an  army,  amounting,  according  to  the  Portuguese 
historians,  to  five  thousand  six  hundred  horse  and  fourteen 
thousand  foot.  This  force,  though  numerically  not  so  for- 
midable as  might  have  been  expected,  comprised  the  flower 
of  the  Portuguese  chivalry,  burning  with  the  hope  of  reaping 
similar  laurels  to  those  won  of  old  by  their  fathers  on  the 
plains  of  Aljubarrotta;  while  its  deficiency  in  numbers  was 
to  be  amply  compensated  by  recruits  from  the  disaffected 
party  in  Castile,  who  would  eagerly  flock  to  its  banners,  on 
its  advance  across  the  borders.  At  the  same  time  negotia- 
tions were  entered  into  with  the  king  of  France,  who  was 
invited  to  make  a descent  upon  Biscay,  by  a promise,  some- 
what premature,  of  a cession  of  the  conquered  territory. 

Early  in  May,  the  king  of  Portugal  put  his  army  in  motion, 
and,  entering  Castile  by  the  way  of  Estremadura,  held  a 
northerly  course  toward  Placencia,  where  he  was  met  by  the 
duke  of  Arevalo  and  the  marquis  of  Villena,  and  by  the  latter 
nobleman  presented  to  the  princess  Joanna,  his  destined 


148  ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

bride.  On  the  12th  of  the  month  he  was  affianced  with  all 
becoming  pomp  to  this  lady,  then  scarcely  thirteen  years  of 
age;  and  a messenger  was  despatched  to  the  court  of  Rome, 
to  solicit  a dispensation  for  their  marriage,  rendered  necessary 
by  the  consanguinity  of  the  parties.  The  royal  pair  were 
then  proclaimed,  with  the  usual  solemnities,  sovereigns  of 
Castile;  and  circulars  were  transmitted  to  the  different  cities, 
setting  forth  Joanna’s  title  and  requiring  their  allegiance.14 

After  some  days  given  to  festivity,  the  army  resumed  its 
march,  still  in  a northerly  direction,  upon  Arevalo,  where 
Alfonso  determined  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  reinforcements 
which  he  expected  from  his  Castilian  allies.  Had  he  struck 
at  once  into  the  southern  districts  of  Castile,  where  most  of 
those  friendly  to  his  cause  were  to  be  found,  and  immedi- 
ately commenced  active  operations  with  the  aid  of  the  marquis 
of  Cadiz,  who  it  was  understood  was  prepared  to  support  him 
in  that  quarter,  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  might  have  been 
the  result.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  so  wholly  unpre- 
pared at  the  time  of  Alfonso’s  invasion,  that  it  is  said  they 
could  scarcely  bring  five  hundred  horse  to  oppose  it.  By 
this  opportune  delay  at  Arevalo,  they  obtained  space  for 
preparation.  Both  of  them  were  indefatigable  in  their  efforts. 
Isabella,  we  are  told,  was  frequently  engaged  through  the 
whole  night  in  dictating  despatches  to  her  secretaries.  She 
visited  in  person  such  of  the  garrisoned  towns  as  required  to 
be  confirmed  in  their  allegiance,  performing  long  and  pain- 
ful journeys  on  horseback  with  surprising  celerity,  and  en- 
during fatigues,  which,  as  she  was  at  that  time  in  delicate 
health,  wellnigh  proved  fatal  to  her  constitution.15  On  an 
excursion  to  Toledo,  she  determined  to  make  one  effort 
more  to  regain  the  confidence  of  her  ancient  minister,  the 
archbishop.  She  accordingly  sent  an  envoy  to  inform  him 
of  her  intention  to  wait  on  him  in  person  at  his  residence 
in  Alcala  de  Henares.  But  as  the  surly  prelate,  far  from 
being  moved  by  this  condescension,  returned  for  answer, 
that,  “if  the  queen  entered  by  one  door,  he  would  go  out 
at  the  other,”  she  did  not  choose  to  compromise  her  dignity 
by  any  further  advances. 

By  Isabella’s  extraordinary  exertions,  as  well  as  those  of 
her  husband,  the  latter  found  himself,  in  the  beginning  of 
July,  at  the  head  of  a force  amounting  in  all  to  four  thou- 
sand men-at-arms,  eight  thousand  light  horse,  and  thirty 
thousand  foot,  an  ill-disciplined  militia,  chiefly  drawn  from 
the  mountainous  districts  of  the  north,  which  manifested  pe- 
culiar devotion  to  his  cause;  his  partisans  in  the  south  being 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION.  I49 

preoccupied  with  suppressing  domestic  revolt,  and  with  in- 
cursions on  the  frontiers  of  Portugal.16 

Meanwhile  Alfonso,  after  an  unprofitable  detention  of 
nearly  two  months  at  Arevalo,  marched  on  Toro,  which,  by 
a preconcerted  agreement,  was  delivered  into  his  hands  by 
the  governor  of  the  city,  although  the  fortress,  under  the 
conduct  of  a woman,  continued  to  maintain  a gallant  de- 
fence. While  occupied  with  its  reduction,  Alfonso  was  in- 
vited to  receive  the  submission  of  the  adjacent  city  and  castle 
of  Zamora.  The  defection  of  these  places,  two  of  the  most 
considerable  in  the  province  of  Leon,  and  peculiarly  impor- 
tant to  the  king  of  Portugal  from  their  vicinity  to  his  domin- 
ions, was  severely  felt  by  Ferdinand,  who  determined  to 
advance  at  once  against  his  rival,  and  bring  their  quarrel 
to  the  issue  of  a battle;  in  this,  acting  in  opposition  to  the 
more  cautious  counsel  of  his  father,  who  recommended  the 
policy,  usually  judged  most  prudent  for  an  invaded  country, 
of  acting  on  the  defensive,  instead  of  risking  all  on  the 
chances  of  a single  action. 

Ferdinand  arrived  before  Toro  on  the  19th  of  July,  and  im- 
mediately drew  up  his  army,  before  its  walls,  in  order  of  bat- 
tle. As  the  king  of  Portugal,  however,  still  kept  within  his 
defences,  Ferdinand  sent  a herald  into  his  camp,  to  defy  him 
to  a fair  field  of  fight  with  his  whole  army,  or,  if  he  declined 
this,  to  invite  him  to  decide  their  differences  by  personal 
combat.  Alfonso  accepted  the  latter  alternative;  but,  a dis- 
pute arising  respecting  the  guaranty  for  the  performance  of 
the  engagements  on  either  side,  the  whole  affair  evaporated, 
as  usual,  in  an  empty  vaunt  of  chivalry. 

The  Castilian  army,  from  the  haste  with  which  it  had  been 
mustered,  was  wholly  deficient  in  battering  artillery,  and  in 
other  means  for  annoying  a fortified  city;  and,  as  its  com- 
munications were  cut  off,  in  consequence  of  the  neighbor- 
ing fortresses  being  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  it  soon 
became  straitened  for  provisions.  It  was  accordingly  de- 
cided in  a council  of  war  to  retreat  without  further  delay. 
No  sooner  was  this  determination  known,  than  it  excited 
general  dissatisfaction  throughout  the  camp.  The  soldiers 
loudly  complained  that  the  king  was  betrayed  by  his  nobles; 
and  a party  of  over-loyal  Biscayans,  inflamed  by  the  suspi- 
cions of  a conspiracy  against  his  person,  actually  broke 
into  the  church  where  Ferdinand  was  conferring  with  his 
officers,  and  bore  him  off  in  their  arms  from  the  midst 
of  them  to  his  own  tent,  notwithstanding  his  reiterated  ex- 
planations and  remonstrances.  The  ensuing  retreat  was  con- 


150  ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

ducted  in  so  disorderly  a manner  by  the  mutinous  soldiery, 
that  Alfonso,  says  a contemporary,  had  he  but  sallied  with 
two  thousand  horse,  might  have  routed  and  perhaps  annihi- 
lated the  whole  army.  Some  of  the  troops  were  detached  to 
reinforce  the  garrisons  of  the  loyal  cities,  but  most  of  them 
dispersed  again  among  their  native  mountains.  The  citadel 
of  Toro  soon  afterward  capitulated.  The  archbishop  of 
Toledo,  considering  these  events  as  decisive  of  the  fortunes 
of  the  war,  now  openly  joined  the  king  of  Portugal  at  the 
head  of  five  hundred  lances,  boasting  at  the  same  time,  that 
“he  had  raised  Isabella  from  the  distaff,  and  would  soon 
send  her  back  to  it  again.”  17 

So  disastrous  an  introduction  to  the  campaign  might 
indeed  well  fill  Isabella’s  bosom  with  anxiety.  The  revo- 
lutionary movements,  which  had  so  long  agitated  Castile, 
had  so  far  unsettled  every  man’s  political  principles,  and 
the  allegiance  of  even  the  most  loyal  hung  so  loosely  about 
them,  that  it  was  difficult  to  estimate  how  far  it  might  be 
shaken  by  such  a blow  occurring  at  this  crisis.18  For- 
tunately, Alfonso  was  in  no  condition  to  profit  by  his  suc- 
cess. His  Castilian  allies  had  experienced  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  enlisting  their  vassals  in  the  Portuguese  cause; 
and,  far  from  furnishing  him  with  the  contingents  which 
he  had  expected,  found  sufficient  occupation  in  the  defence 
of  their  own  territories  against  the  loyal  partisans  of  Isa- 
bella. At  the  same  time,  numerous  squadrons  of  light 
cavalry  from  Estremadura  and  Andalusia,  penetrating  into 
Portugal,  carried  the  most  terrible  desolation  over  the 
whole  extent  of  its  unprotected  borders.  The  Portuguese 
knights  loudly  murmured  at  being  cooped  up  in  Toro,  while 
their  own  country  was  made  the  theatre  of  war;  and  Alfonso 
saw  himself  under  the  necessity  of  detaching  so  consider- 
able a portion  of  his  army  for  the  defence  of  his  frontier,  as 
entirely  to  cripple  his  future  operations.  So  deeply,  indeed, 
was  he  impressed,  by  these  circumstances,  with  the  difficulty 
of  his  enterprise,  that,  in  a negotiation  with  the  Castilian 
sovereigns  at  this  time,  he  expressed  a willingness  to  resign 
his  claims  to  their  crown  in  consideration  of  the  cession  of 
Galicia,  together  with  the  cities  of  Toro  and  Zamora,  and 
a considerable  sum  of  money.  Ferdinand  and  his  ministers, 
it  is  reported,  would  have  accepted  the  proposal;  but  Isa- 
bella, although  acquiescing  in  the  stipulated  money  payment, 
would  not  consent  to  the  dismemberment  of  a single  inch 
of  the  Castilian  territory. 

In  the  mean  time  both  the  queen  and  her  husband,  un- 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION.  151 

dismayed  by  past  reverses,  were  making  every  exertion  for 
the  reorganization  of  an  army  on  a more  efficient  footing. 
To  accomplish  this  object,  an  additional  supply  of  funds  be- 
came necessary,  since  the  treasure  of  King  Henry,  delivered 
into  their  hands  by  Andres  de  Cabrera,  at  Segovia,  had  been 
exhausted  by  the  preceding  operations.19  The  old  king  of 
Aragon  advised  them  to  imitate  their  ancestor  Henry  the 
Second,  of  glorious  memory,  by  making  liberal  grants  and 
alienations  in  favor  of  their  subjects,  which  they  might, 
when  more  firmly  seated  on  the  throne,  resume  at  pleasure. 
Isabella,  however,  chose  rather  to  trust  to  the  patriotism  of 
her  people,  than  have  recourse  to  so  unworthy  a stratagem. 
She  accordingly  convened  an  assembly  of  the  states,  in  the 
month  of  August,  at  Medina  del  Campo.  As  the  nation 
had  been  too  far  impoverished  under  the  late  reign  to  admit 
of  fresh  exactions,  a most  extraordinary  expedient  was  de- 
vised for  meeting  the  stipulated  requisitions.  It  was  pro- 
posed to  deliver  into  the  royal  treasury  half  the  amount  of 
plate  belonging  to  the  churches  throughout  the  kingdom,  to 
be  redeemed  in  the  term  of  three  years,  for  the  sum  of  thirty 
cuentos , or  millions,  of  maravedies.  The  clergy,  who  were 
very  generally  attached  to  Isabella’s  interests,  far  from  dis- 
couraging this  startling  proposal,  endeavored  to  vanquish  the 
queen’s  repugnance  to  it,  by  arguments  and  pertinent  illus- 
trations drawn  from  Scripture.  This  transaction  certainly 
exhibits  a degree  of  disinterestedness,  on  the  part  of  this 
body,  most  unusual  in  that  age  and  country,  as  well  as  a 
generous  confidence  in  the  good  faith  of  Isabella,  of  which 
she  proved  herself  worthy  by  the  punctuality  with  which 
she  redeemed  it.20 

Thus  provided  with  the  necessary  funds,  the  sovereigns 
set  about  enforcing  new  levies  and  bringing  them  under  bet- 
ter discipline,  as  well  as  providing  for  their  equipment  in  a 
manner  more  suitable  to  the  exigencies  of  the  service,  than 
was  done  for  the  preceding  army.  The  remainder  of  the 
summer  and  the  ensuing  autumn  were  consumed  in  these 
preparations,  as  well  as  in  placing  their  fortified  towns  in  a 
proper  posture  of  defence,  and  in  the  reduction  of  such 
places  as  held  out  against  them.  The  king  of  Portugal,  all 
this  while,  lay  with  his  diminished  forces  in  Toro,  making  a 
sally  on  one  occasion  only,  for  the  relief  of  his  friends,  which 
was  frustrated  by  the  sleepless  vigilance  of  Isabella. 

Early  in  December,  Ferdinand  passed  from  the  siege  of 
Burgos,  in  Old  Castile,  to  Zamora,  whose  inhabitants  ex- 
pressed a desire  to  return  to  their  ancient  allegiance;  and, 


152  ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

with  the  cooperation  of  the  citizens,  supported  by  a large 
detachment  from  his  main  army,  he  prepared  to  invest  its 
citadel.  As  the  possession  of  this  post  would  effectually 
intercept  Alfonso’s  communications  with  his  own  country, 
he  determiend  to  relieve  it  at  every  hazard,  and  for  this 
purpose  despatched  a messenger  into  Portugal  requiring  his 
son,  Prince  John,  to  reinforce  him  with  such  levies  as  he 
could  speedily  raise.  All  parties  now  looked  forward  with 
eagerness  to  a general  battle,  as  to  a termination  of  the 
evils  of  this  long-protracted  war. 

The  Portuguese  prince,  having  with  difficulty  assembled  a 
corps  amounting  to  two  thousand  lances  and  eight  thou- 
sand infantry,  took  a northerly  circuit  round  Galicia,  and 
effected  a junction  with  his  father  in  Toro,  on  the  14th  of 
February,  1476.  Alfonso,  thus  reinforced,  transmitted  a 
pompous  circular  to  the  pope,  the  king  of  France,  his  own 
dominions,  and  those  wTell  affected  to  him  in  Castile,  pro- 
claiming his  immediate  intention  of  taking  the  usurper,  or  of 
driving  him  from  the  kingdom.  On  the  night  of  the  17th, 
having  first  provided  for  the  security  of  the  city  by  leaving 
in  it  a powerful  reserve,  Alfonso  drew  off  the  residue  of  his 
army,  probably  not  much  exceeding  three  thousand  five 
hundred  horse  and  five  thousand  foot,  well  provided  with 
artillery  and  with  arquebuses,  which  latter  engine  was  still  of 
so  clumsy  and  unwieldy  construction,  as  not  to  have  entirely 
superseded  the  ancient  weapons  of  European  warfare.  The 
Portugese  army,  traversing  the  bridge  of  Toro,  pursued  their 
march  along  the  southern  side  of  the  Douro,  and  reached 
Zamora,  distant  only  a few  leagues,  before  the  dawn.21 

At  break  of  day,  the  Castilians  were  surprised  by  the  array 
of  floating  banners,  and  martial  panoply  glittering  in  the 
sun,  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  while  the  discharges 
of  artillery  still  more  unequivocally  announced  the  presence 
of  the  enemy.  Ferdinand  could  scarcely  believe  that  the 
Portuguese  monarch,  whose  avowed  object  had  been  the  relief 
of  the  castle  of  Zamora,  should  have  selected  a position  so 
obviously  unsuitable  for  this  purpose.  The  intervention  of 
the  river,  between  him  and  the  fortress  situated  at  the 
nothern  extremity  of  the  town,  prevented  him  from  relieving 
it,  either  by  throwing  succors  into  it,  or  by  annoying  the 
Castilian  troops,  who,  intrenched  in  comparative  security 
within  the  walls  and  houses  of  the  city,  were  enabled  by 
means  of  certain  elevated  positions,  well  garnished  with  ar- 
tillery, to  inflict  much  heavier  injury  on  their  opponents, 
than  they  could  possibly  receive  from  them.  Still  Ferdi- 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


T53 


nand's  men,  exposed  to  the  double  fire  of  the  fortress  and  the 
besiegers,  would  willingly  have  come  to  an  engagement  with 
the  latter;  but  the  river,  swollen  by  winter  torrents,  was  not 
fordable,  and  the  bridge,  the  only  direct  avenue  to  the  city, 
was  enfiladed  by  the  enemys’  cannon,  so  as  to  render  a sally 
in  that  direction  altogether  impracticable.  During  this  time, 
Isabella’s  squadrons  of  light  cavalry,  hovering  on  the  skirts 
of  the  Portuguese  camp,  effectually  cut  off  its  supplies,  and 
soon  reduced  it  to  great  straits  for  subsistence.  This  cir- 
cumstance, together  with  the  tidings  of  the  rapid  advance 
of  additional  forces  to  the  support  of  Ferdinand,  determined 
Alfonso,  contrary  to  all  expectation,  on  an  immediate  re- 
treat; and  accordingly  on  the  morning  of  the  ist  of  March, 
being  little  less  than  a fortnight  from  the  time  in  which  he 
commenced  this  empty  gasconade,  the  Portuguese  army 
quitted  its  position  before  Zamora,  with  the  same  silence 
and  celerity  with  which  it  had  occupied  it. 

Ferdinand’s  troops  would  instantly  have  pushed  after  the 
fugitives,  but  the  latter  had  demolished  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  the  bridge  before  their  departure;  so  that,  although 
some  few  effected  an  immediate  passage  in  boats,  the  great 
body  of  the  army  was  necessarily  detained  until  the  repairs 
were  completed,  which  occupied  more  than  three  hours. 
With  all  the  expedition  they  could  use,  therefore,  and  leaving 
their  artillery  behind  them,  they  did  not  succeed  in  coming 
up  with  the  enemy  until  nearly  four  o’clock  in  the  afternoon, 
as  the  latter  was  defiling  though  a narrow  pass  formed  by  a 
crest  of  precipitous  hills  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Douro  on 
the  other,  at  the  distance  of  about  five  miles  from  the  city  of 
Toro.22 

A council  of  war  was  then  called,  to  decide  on  the  expe- 
diency of  an  immediate  assault.  It  was  objected,  that  the 
strong  position  of  Toro  would  effectually  cover  the  retreat 
of  the  Portuguese  in  case  of  their  discomfiture;  that  they 
would  speedily  be  reinforced  by  fresh  recruits  from  that  city, 
which  would  make  them  more  than  a match  for  Ferdinand’s 
army,  exhausted  by  a toilsome  march,  as  well  as  by  its  long 
fast,  which  it  had  not  broken  since  the  morning;  and  that 
the  celerity,  with  which  it  had  moved,  had  compelled  it,  not 
only  to  abandon  its  artillery,  but  to  leave  a considerable  por- 
tion of  the  heavy-armed  infantry  in  the  rear.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  weight  of  these  objections,  such  were  the  high  spirit 
of  the  troops  and  their  eagerness  to  come  to  action,  sharpened 
by  the  view  of  the  quarry,  which  after  a wearisome  chase 
seemed  ready  to  fall  into  their  hands,  that  they  were  thought 
7* 


154  ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

more  than  sufficient  to  counterbalance  every  pnysical  disadN 
vantage;  and  the  question  of  battle  was  decided  in  the  affir- 
mative. 

As  the  Castilian  army  emerged  from  the  defile  into  a wide 
and  open  plain,  they  found  that  the  enemy  had  halted,  and 
was  already  forming  in  order  of  battle.  The  king  of  Portu- 
gal led  the  centre,  with  the  archbishop  of  Toledo  on  his 
right  wing,  its  extremity  resting  on  the  Douro;  while  the 
left,  comprehending  the  arquebusiers  and  the  strength  of  the 
cavalry,  was  placed  under  the  command  of  his  son,  Prince 
John.  The  numerical  force  of  the  two  armies,  although  in 
favor  of  the  Portuguese,  was  nearly  equal,  amounting  probably 
in  each  to  less  than  ten  thousand  men,  about  one  third  being 
cavalry.  Ferdinand  took  his  station  in  the  centre,  opposite 
his  rival,  having  the  admiral  and  the  duke  of  Alba  on  his 
left;  while  his  right  wing,  distributed  into  six  battles  or  divi- 
sions, under  their  several  commanders,  was  supported  by  a 
detachment  of  men-at-arms  from  the  provinces  of  Leon  and 
Galicia. 

The  action  commenced  in  this  quarter.  The  Castilians, 
raising  the  war-cry  of  “St.  James  and  St.  Lazarus,’ ’ ad- 
vanced on  the  enemy’s  left  under  Prince  John,  but  were 
saluted  with  such  a brisk  and  well-directed  fire  from  his 
arquebusiers,  that  their  ranks  were  disconcerted.  The  Por- 
tuguese men-at-arms,  charging  them  at  the  same  time,  aug- 
mented their  confusion,  and  compelled  them  to  fall  back 
precipitately  on  the  narrow  pass  in  their  rear,  where,  being 
supported  by  some  fresh  detachments  from  the  reserve,  they 
were  with  difficulty  rallied  by  their  officers,  and  again  brought 
into  the  field.  In  the  mean  while,  Ferdinand  closed  with 
the  enemy’s  centre,  and  the  action  soon  became  general  along 
the  whole  line.  The  battle  raged  with  redoubled  fierceness 
in  the  quarter  where  the  presence  of  the  two  monarchs  in- 
fused new  ardor  into  their  soldiers,  who  fought  as  if  conscious 
that  this  struggle  was  to  decide  the  fate  of  their  masters. 
The  lances  were  shivered  at  the  first  encounter,  and,  as  the 
ranks  of  the  two  armies  mingled  with  each  other,  the  men 
fought  hand  to  hand  with  their  swords  with  a fury  sharpened 
by  the  ancient  rivalry  of  the  two  nations,  making  the  whole  a 
contest  of  physical  strength  rather  than  skill.23 

The  royal  standard  of  Portugal  was  torn  to  shreds  in  the 
attempt  to  seize  it  on  the  one  side  and  to  preserve  it  on  the 
other,  while  its  gallant  bearer,  Edward  de  Almeyda,  after 
losing  first  his  right  arm,  and  then  his  left,  in  its  defence, 
held  it  firmly  with  his  teeth  until  he  was  cut  down  by  the 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION.  155 

assailants.  The  armor  of  this  knight  was  to  be  seen  as  late 
Mariana’s  time,  in  the  cathedral  church  of  Toledo,  where  it 
was  preserved  as  a trophy  of  this  desperate  ac.t  of  heroism, 
which  brings  to  mind  a similar  fact  recorded  in  Grecian  story. 

The  old  archbishop  of  Toledo,  and  the  cardinal  Mendoza, 
who,  like  his  reverend  rival,  had  exchanged  the  crosier  for 
the  corslet,  were  to  be  seen  on  that  day  in  the  thickest  of 
the  melee.  The  holy  wars  with  the  infidel  perpetuated  the 
unbecoming  spectacle  of  militant  ecclesiastics  among  the 
Spaniards,  to  a still  later  period,  and  long  after  it  had  disap- 
peared from  the  rest  of  civilized  Europe. 

At  length,  after  an  obstinate  struggle  of  more  than  three 
hours,  the  valor  of  the  Castilian  troops  prevailed,  and  the 
Portuguese  were  seen  to  give  way  in  all  directions.  The 
duke  of  Alva,  by  succeeding  in  turning  their  flank,  while 
they  were  thus  vigorously  pressed  in  front,  completed  their 
disorder,  and  soon  converted  their  retreat  into  a rout. 
Some,  attempting  to  cross  the  Douro,  were  drowned,  and 
many,  who  endeavored  to  effect  an  entrance  into  Toro,  were 
entangled  in  the  narrow  defile  of  the  bridge,  and  fell  by  the 
sword  of  their  pursuers,  or  miserably  perished  in  the  river, 
which,  bearing  along  their  mutilated  corpses,  brought  tid- 
ings of  the  fatal  victory  to  Zamora.  Such  were  the  heat  and 
fury  of  the  pursuit,  that  the  intervening  night,  rendered 
darker  than  usual  by  a driving  rain  storm,  alone  saved  the 
scattered  remains  of  the  army  from  destruction.  Several 
Portuguese  companies,  under  favor  of  this  obscurity,  con- 
trived to  elude  their  foes  by  shouting  the  Castilian  battle-cry. 
Prince  John,  retiring  with  a fragment  of  his  broken  squadrons 
to  a neighboring  eminence,  succeeded,  by  lighting  fires  and 
sounding  his  trumpets,  in  rallying  round  him  a number  of 
fugitives;  and,  as  the  position  he  occupied  was  too  strong  to 
be  readily  forced,  and  the  Castilian  troops  were  too  weary, 
and  well  satisfied  with  their  victory,  to  attempt  it,  he  retained 
possession  of  it  till  morning,  when  he  made  good  his  retreat 
into  Toro.  The  king  of  Portugal,  who  was  missing,  was 
supposed  to  have  perished  in  the  battle,  until,  by  advices 
received  from  him  late  on  the  following  day,  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  he  had  escaped  without  personal  injury,  and  with 
three  or  four  attendants  only,  to  the  fortified  castle  of  Castro 
Nuno,  some  leagues  distant  from  the  field  of  action.  Num- 
bers of  his  troops,  attempting  to  escape  across  the  neighbor- 
ing frontiers  into  their  own  country,  were  maimed  or  massa- 
cred by  the  Spanish  peasants,  in  retaliation  of  the  excesses 
wantonly  committed  by  them  in  their  invasion  of  Castile. 


156  ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

Ferdinand,  shocked  at  this  barbarity,  issued  orders  for  the 
protection  of  their  persons,  and  freely  gave  safe-conducts  to 
such  as  desired  to  return  into  Portugal.  He  even,  with  a 
degree  of  humanity  more  honorable,  as  well  as  more  rare, 
than  military  success,  distributed  clothes  and  money  to  several 
prisoners  brought  into  Zamora  in  a state  of  utter  destitution, 
and  enabled  them  to  return  in  safety  to  their  own  country.24 

The  Castilian  monarch  remained  on  the  field  of  battle  till 
after  midnight,  when  he  returned  to  Zamora,  being  followed 
in  the  morning  by  the  cardinal  of  Spain  and  the  admiral 
Henriquez,  at  the  head  of  the  victorious  legions.  Eight 
standards  with  the  greater  part  of  the  baggage  were  taken  in 
the  engagement,  and  more  than  two  thousand  of  the  enemy 
slain  or  made  prisoners.  Queen  Isabella,  on  receiving  tid- 
ings of  the  event  at  Tordesillas,  where  she  then  was,  ordered 
a procession  to  the  church  of  St.  Paul  in  the  suburbs,  in  which 
she  herself  joined,  walking  barefoot  with  all  humility,  and 
offered  up  a devout  thanksgiving  to  the  God  of  battles  for 
the  victory  with  which  he  had  crowned  her  arms.25 

It  was  indeed  a most  auspicious  victory,  not  so  much  from 
the  immediate  loss  inflicted  on  the  enemy,  as  from  its  moral 
influence  on  the  Castilian  nation.  Such  as  had  before  vacil- 
lated in  their  faith,  who,  in  the  expressive  language  of  Ber- 
naldez,  “estaban  aviva  quien  vence,” — who  were  prepared 
to  take  sides  with  the  strongest,  now  openly  proclaimed 
their  allegiance  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella;  while  most  of 
those,  who  had  been  arrayed  in  arms,  or  had  manifested  by 
any  other  overt  act  their  hostility  to  the  government,  vied 
with  each  other  in  demonstrations  of  the  most  loyal  submis- 
sion, and  sought  to  make  the  best  terms  for  themselves 
which  they  could.  Among  these  latter,  the  duke  of  Arevalo, 
who  indeed  had  made  overtures  to  this  effect  some  time 
previous  through  the  agency  of  his  son,  together  with  the 
grand  master  of  Calatrava,  and  the  count  of  Urueha,  his 
brother,  experienced  the  lenity  of  government,  and  were 
confirmed  in  the  entire  possession  of  their  estates.  The 
two  principal  delinquents,  the  marquis  of  Villena  and  the 
archbishop  of  Toledo,  made  a show  of  resistance  for  some 
time  longer;  but,  after  witnessing  the  demolition  of  their 
castles,  the  capture  of  their  towns,  the  desertion  of  their 
vassals,  and  the  sequestration  of  their  revenues,  were  fain  to 
purchase  a pardon  at  the  price  of  the  most  humble  con- 
cessions, and  the  forfeiture  of  an  ample  portion  of  domain. 

The  castle  of  Zamora,  expecting  no  further  succors  from 
Portugal,  speedily  surrendered,  and  this  event  was  soon  fol- 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


157 


lowed  by  the  reduction  of  Madrid,  Baeza,  Toro,  and  other 
principal  cities;  so  that,  in  little  more  than  six  months  from 
the  date  of  the  battle,  the  whole  kingdom,  with  the  exception 
of  a few  insignificant  posts  still  garrisoned  by  the  enemy,  had 
acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.26 

Soon  after  the  victory  of  Toro,  Ferdinand  was  enabled  to 
concentrate  a force  amounting  to  fifty  thousand  men,  for  the 
purpose  of  repelling  the  French  from  Guipuscoa,  from  which 
they  had  already  twice  been  driven  by  the  intrepid  natives, 
and  whence  they  again  retired  with  precipitation  on  receiv- 
ing news  of  the  king’s  approach.27 

Alfonso,  finding  his  authority  in  Castile  thus  rapidly  melt- 
ing away  before  the  rising  influence  of  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, withdrew  with  his  virgin  bride  into  Portugal,  where  he 
formed  the  resolution  of  visiting  France  in  person,  and 
soliciting  succor  from  his  ancient  ally,  Louis  the  Eleventh. 
In  spite  of  every  remonstrance,  he  put  this  extraordinary 
scheme  into  execution.  He  reached  France,  with  a retinue 
of  two  hundred  followers,  in  the  month  of  September.  He 
experienced  everywhere  the  honors  due  to  his  exalted  rank, 
and  to  the  signal  mark  of  confidence  which  he  thus  exhibited 
toward  the  French  king.  The  keys  of  the  cities  were  de- 
livered into  his  hands,  the  prisoners  were  released  from  their 
dungeons^and  his  progress  was  attended  by  a general  jubi- 
lee. His  brother  monarch,  however,  excused  himself  from 
affording  more  substantial  proofs  of  his  regard,  until  he 
should  have  closed  the  war  then  pending  between  him  and 
Burgundy,  and  until  Alfonso  should  have  fortified  his  title  to 
the  Castilian  crown,  by  obtaining  from  the  pope  a dispensa- 
tion for  his  marriage  with  Joanna 

The  defeat  and  death  of  the  duke  of  Burgundy, whose  camp, 
before  Nanci,  Alfonso  visited  in  the  depth  of  winter,  with  the 
chimerical  purpose  of  effecting  a reconciliation  between  him 
and  Louis,  removed  the  former  of  these  impediments;  as,  in 
good  time,  the  compliance  of  the  pope  did  the  latter.  But  the 
king  of  Portugal  found  himself  no  neaier  the  object  of  his 
negotiations;  and,  after  waiting  a whole  year  a needy  suppli- 
cant at  the  court  of  Louis,  he  at  length  ascertained  that  his 
insidious  host  was  concerting  an  arrangement  with  his  mortal 
foes,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Alfonso, whose  character  always 
had  a spice  of  Quixotism  in  it,  seems  to  have  completely  lost 
his  wits  at  this  last  reverse  of  fortune.  Overwhelmed  with 
shame  at  his  own  credulity,  he  felt  himself  unable  to  en- 
counter the  ridicule  which  awaited  his  return  to  Portugal, 
and  secretly  withdrew,  with  two  or  three  domestics  only,  to 


158  ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 

an  obscure  village  in  Normandy,  whence  he  transmitted  an 
epistle  to  Prince  John,  his  son,  declaring,  “that,  as  all 
earthly  vanities  were  dead  within  his  bosom,  he  resolved  to 
lay  up  an  imperishable  crown  by  performing  a pilgrimage  to 
the  Holy  Land,  and  devoting  himself  to  the  service  of  God, 
in  some  retired  monastery;”  and  he  concluded  with  request- 
ing his  son  “to  assume  the  sovereignty,  at  once,  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  he  had  heard  of  his  father’s  death.”  28 

Fortunately  Alfonso’s  retreat  was  detected  before  he  had 
time  to  put  his  extravagant  project  in  execution,  and  his 
trusty  followers  succeeded,  though  with  considerable  diffi- 
culty, in  diverting  him  from  it;  while  the  king  of  France, 
willing  to  be  rid  of  his  importunate  guest,  and  unwilling 
perhaps  to  incur  the  odium  of  having  driven  him  to  so  des- 
perate an  extremity  as  that  of  his  projected  pilgrimage, 
provided  a fleet  of  ships  to  transport  him  back  to  his  own  do- 
minions, where,  to  complete  the  farce,  he  arrived  just  five  days 
after  the  ceremony  of  his  son’s  coronation  as  king  of  Portu- 
gal. Nor  was  it  destined  that  the  luckless  monarch  should 
solace  himself,  as  he  had  hoped,  in  the  arms  of  his  youthful 
bride;  since  the  pliant  pontiff,  Sixtus  the  Fourth,' was  ulti- 
mately persuaded  by  the  court  of  Castile  to  issue  a new  bull 
overruling  the  dispensation  formerly  conceded  on  the  ground 
that  it  had  been  obtained  by  a misrepresentation  of  facts. 

Prince  John,  whether  influenced  by  filial  piety,  or  prudence, 
resigned  the  crown  of  Portugal  to  his  father,  soon  after  his 
return;29  and  the  old  monarch  was  no  sooner  reinstated  in 
his  authority,  than,  burning  with  a thirst  for  vengeance,  which 
made  him  insensible  to  every  remonstrance,  he  again  prepared 
to  throw  his  country  into  combustion  by  reviving  his  enter- 
prise against  Castile.30 

While  these  hostile  movements  were  in  progress,  Ferdi- 
nand, leaving  his  consort  in  possession  of  a sufficient  force 
for  the  protection  of  the  frontiers,  made  a journey  into 
Biscay  for  the  purpose  of  an  interview  with  his  father,  the 
king  of  Aragon,  to  concert  measures  for  the  pacification  of 
Navarre,  which  still  continued  to  be  rent  with  those  san- 
guinary feuds,  that  were  bequeathed  like  a precious  legacy 
from  one  generation  to  another.31  In  the  autumn  of  the 
same  year  a treaty  of  peace  was  definitely  adjusted  between 
the  plenipotentiaries  of  Castile  and  France,  at  St.  Jean  de 
Luz,  in  which  it  was  stipulated  as  a principal  article,  that 
Louis  the  Eleventh  should  disconnect  himself  from  his 
alliance  with  Portugal,  and  give  no  further  support  to  the 
pretensions  of  Joanna.32 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


*59 


Thus  released  from  apprehension  in  this  quarter,  the  sov- 
ereigns were  enabled  to  give  their  undivided  attention  to 
the  defence  of  the  western  borders.  Isabella,  accordingly, 
early  in  the  ensuing  winter,  passed  into  Estremadura  for 
the  purpose  of  repelling  the  Portuguese,  and  still  more  of 
suppressing  the  insurrectionary  movements  of  certain  of 
her  own  subjects,  who,  encouraged  by  the  vicinity  of  Por- 
tugal, carried  on  from  their  private  fortresses  a most  deso- 
lating and  predatory  warfare  over  the  circumjacent  territory. 
Private  mansions  and  farmhouses  were  pillaged  and  burnt 
to  the  ground,  the  cattle  and  crops  swept  away  in  their 
forays,  the  highways  beset,  so  that  all  travelling  was  at  an 
end,  all  communication  cut  off,  and  a rich  and  populous 
district  converted  at  once  into  a desert.  Isabella,  supported 
by  a body  of  regular  troops  and  a detachment  of  the  Holy 
Brotherhood,  took  her  station  at  Truxillo,  as  a central 
position  whence  she  might  operate  on  the  various  points 
with  greatest  facility.  Her  counsellors  remonstrated  against 
this  exposure  of  her  person  in  the  very  heait  of  the  dis- 
affected country;  but  she  replied  that  “it  was  not  for  her  to 
calculate  perils  or  fatigues  in  her  own  cause,  nor  by  an  unsea- 
sonable timidity  to  dishearten  her  friends,  with  whom  she  was 
now  resolved  to  remain  until  she  had  brought  the  war  to  a 
conclusion.”  She  then  gave  immediate  orders  for  laying 
siege  at  the  same  time  to  the  fortified  towns  of  Medellin, 
Merida,  and  Deleytosa. 

At  this  juncture  the  infanta  Dona  Beatriz  of  Portugal, 
sister-in-law  of  king  Alfonso,  and  maternal  aunt  of  Isabella, 
touched  with  grief  at  the  calamities,  in  which  she  saw  her 
country  involved  by  the  chimerical  ambition  of  her  brother, 
offered  herself  as  the  mediator  of  peace  between  the  bellig- 
erent nations.  Agreeably  to  her  proposal,  an  interview  took 
place  between  her  and  queen  Isabella  at  the  frontier  town 
of  Alcantara.  As  the  conferences  of  the  fair  negotiators 
experienced  none  of  the  embarrassments  usually  incident  to 
such  deliberations,  growing  out  of  jealousy,  distrust,  and  a 
mutual  design  to  overreach,  but  were  conducted  in  perfect 
good  faith,  and  a sincere  desire,  on  both  sides,  of  establish- 
ing  a cordial  reconciliation,  they  resulted,  after  eight  days’ 
discussion,  in  a treaty  of  peace,  with  which  the  Portuguese 
infanta  returned  into  her  own  country,  in  order  to  obtain 
the  sanction  of  her  royal  brother.  The  articles  contained 
in  it;  however,  were  too  unpalatable  to  receive  an  immediate 
assent;  and  it  was  not  until  the  expiration  of  six  months, 
during  which  Isabella,  far  from  relaxing,  persevered  with 


i6o 


ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


increased  energy  in  her  original  plan  of  operations,  that  the 
treaty  was  formally  ratified  by  the  court  of  Lisbon.33 

It  was  stipulated  in  this  compact,  that  Alfonso  should  re- 
linquish the  title  and  armorial  bearings,  which  he  had  assumed 
as  king  of  Castile;  that  he  should  resign  his  claims  to  the 
hand  of  Joanna,  and  no  longer  maintain  her  pretensions  to 
the  Castilian  throne;  that  that  lady  should  make  the  election 
within  six  months,  either  to  quit  Portugal  for  ever,  or  to  re- 
main there  on  the  condition  of  wedding  Don  John,  the 
infant  son  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,34  so  soon  as  he  should 
attain  a marriageable  age,  or  to  retire  into  a convent,  and 
take  the  veil;  that  a general  amnesty  should  be  granted  to 
all  such  Castilians  as  had  supported  Joanna’s  cause;  and, 
finally,  that  the  concord  between  the  two  nations  should  be 
cemented  by  the  union  of  Alfonso,  son  of  the  prince  of  Por- 
tugal, with  the  infanta  Isabella,  of  Castile.35 

Thus  terminated,  after  a duration  of  four  years  and  a half, 
the  War  of  the  Succession.  It  had  fallen  with  peculiar  fury 
on  the  border  provinces  of  Leon  and  Estremadura,  which, 
from  their  local  position,  had  necessarily  been  kept  in  con- 
stant collision  with  the  enemy.  Its  baneful  effects  were  long 
visible  there,  not  only  in  the  general  devastation  and  distress 
of  the  country,  but  in  the  moral  disorganization,  which  the 
licentious  and  predatory  habits  of  soldiers  necessarily  intro- 
duced among  a simple  peasantry.  In  a personal  view,  how- 
ever, the  war  had  terminated  most  triumphantly  for  Isabella, 
whose  wise  and  vigorous  administration,  seconded  by  her 
husband’s  vigilance,  had  dispelled  the  storm,  which  threat- 
ened to  overwhelm  her  from  abroad,  and  established  her  in 
undisturbed  possession  of  the  throne  of  her  ancestors. 

Joanna’s  interests  were  alone  compromised,  or  rather 
sacrificed,  by  the  treaty.  She  readily  discerned  in  the  pro- 
vision for  her  marriage  with  an  infant  still  in  the  cradle,  only 
a flimsy  veil  intended  to  disguise  the  king  of  Portugal’s  de- 
sertion of  her  cause.  Disgusted  with  a world,  in  which  she 
had  hitherto  experienced  nothing  but  misfortune  herself, 
and  been  the  innocent  cause  of  so  much  to  others,  she  de- 
termined to  renounce  it  for  ever,  and  seek  a shelter  in  the 
peaceful  shades  of  the  cloister.  She  accordingly  entered 
the  convent  of  Santa  Clara  at  Coimbra,  where,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  she  pronounced  the  irrevocable  vows,  which 
divorce  the  unhappy  subject  of  them  for  ever  from  her 
species.  Two  envoys  from  Castile,  Ferdinand  de  Talavera, 
Isabella’s  confessor,  and  Dr.  Diaz  de  Madrigal,  one  of  her 
council,  assisted  at  this  affecting  ceremony;  and  the  rev- 


WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION.  l6l 

erend  father,  in  a copious  exhortation  addressed  to  the  youth- 
ful novice,  assured  her  “that  she  had  chosen  the  better  part 
approved  in  the  Evangelists;  that,  as  spouse  of  the  church, 
her  chastity  would  be  prolific  of  all  spiritual  delights;  her 
subjection,  liberty,  — the  only  true  liberty,  partaking  more 
of  Heaven  than  of  earth.  No  kinsman,”  continued  the  dis- 
interested preacher,  “no  true  friend,  or  faithful  counsellor, 
would  divert  you  from  so  holy  a purpose.”  36 

Not  long  after  this  event,  King  Alfonso,  penetrated  with 
grief  at  the  loss  of  his  destined  bride, — the  “excellent  lady,” 
as  the  Portuguese  continue  to  call  her, — resolved  to  imitate  her 
example,  and  exchange  his  royal  robes  for  the  humble  habit  of 
a Franciscan  friar.  He  consequently  made  preparation  for 
resigning  his  crown  anew,  and  retiring  to  the  monastery  of 
Varatojo,  on  a bleak  eminence  near  the  Atlantic  ocean,  when 
he  suddenly  fell  ill,  at  Cintra,  of  a disorder  which  terminated 
his  existence,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1481.  Alfonso’s  fiery 
character,  in  which  all  the  elements  of  love,  chivalry,  and 
religion  were  blended  together,  resembled  that  of  some 
paladin  of  romance;  as  the  chimerical  enterprises,  in  which 
he  was  perpetually  engaged,  seem  rather  to  belong  to  the  age 
of  knight-errantry,  than  to  the  fifteenth  century.37 

In  the  beginning  of  the  same  year  in  which  the  pacification 
with  Portugal  secured  to  the  sovereigns  the  undisputed  pos- 
session of  Castile,  another  crown  devolved  on  Ferdinand  by 
the  death  of  his  father,  the  king  of  Aragon,  who  expired 
at  Barcelona,  on  the  20th  of  January,  1479,  m the  eighty- 
third  year  of  his  age.38  Such  was  his  admirable  constitution, 
that  he  retained  not  only  his  intellectual,  but  his  bodily 
vigor,  unimpaired  to  the  last.  His  long  life  was  consumed 
in  civil  faction  or  foreign  wars;  and  his  restless  spirit  seemed 
to  take  delight  in  these  tumultuous  scenes,  as  best  fitted  to 
develop  its  various  energies.  He  combined,  however,  with 
this  intrepid  and  even  ferocious  temper,  an  address  in  the 
management  of  affairs,  which  led  him  to  rely,  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  purposes,  much  more  on  negotiation  than 
on  positive  force.  He  may  be  said  to  have  been  one  of  the 
first  monarchs,  who  brought  into  vogue  that  refined  science 
of  the  cabinet,  which  was  so  profoundly  studied  by  statesmen 
at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  on  which  his  own  son 
Ferdinand  furnished  the  most  practical  commentary. 

The  crown  of  Navarre,  which  he  had  so  shamelessly 
usurped,  devolved,  on  his  decease,  on  his  guilty  daughter 
Leonora,  countess  of  Foix,  who,  as  we  have  before  noticed, 
survived  to  enjoy  it  only  three  short  weeks.  Aragon,  with 


162 


ACCESSION  OF  FERDINAND  AND  ISABELLA. 


its  extensive  dependencies,  descended  to  Ferdinand.  Thus 
the  two  crowns  of  Aragon  and  Castile,  after  a separation  of 
more  than  four  centuries,  became  indissolubly  united,  and 
the  foundations  were  laid  of  the  magnificent  empire,  which 
was  destined  to  overshadow  every  other  European  mon- 
archy. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


INTERNAL  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 

1475—^ 1482. 

Schemes  of  Reform. — Holy  Brotherhood. — Tumult  at  Segovia. — The 
Queen’s  Presence  of  Mind. — Severe  Execution  of  Justice. — Royal 
Progress  through  Andalusia. — Reorganization  of  the  Tribunals. — Cas- 
tilian Jurisprudence. — Plans  for  reducing  the  Nobles. — Revocation  of 
Grants. — Military  Orders  of  Castile. — Masterships  annexed  to  the 
Crown. — Ecclesiastical  Usurpations  resisted. — Restoration  of  Trade. 
— Prosperity  of  the  Kingdom. 

I have  deferred  to  the  present  chapter  a consideration  of 
the  important  changes  introduced  into  the  interior  adminis- 
tration of  Castile,  since  the  accession  of  Isabella,  in  order  to 
present  a connected  and  comprehensive  view  of  them  to  the 
reader,  without  interrupting  the  progress  of  the  military 
narrative.  The  subject  may  afford  an  agreeable  relief  to  the 
dreary  details  of  blood  and  battle,  with  which  we  have  been 
so  long  occupied,  and  which  were  rapidly  converting  the 
garden  of  Europe  into  a wilderness.  Such  details  indeed 
seem  to  have  the  deepest  interest  for  contemporary  writers; 
but  the  eye  of  posterity,  unclouded  by  personal  interest  or 
passion  turns  with  satisfaction  from  them  to  those  cultivated 
arts,  which  can  make  the  wilderness  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

If  there  be  any  being  on  earth,  that  may  be  permitted  to 
remind  us  of  the  Deity  himself,  it  is  the  ruler  of  a mighty 
empire,  who  employs  the  high  ^powers  intrusted  to  him  ex- 
clusively for  the  benefit  of  his  people;  who,  endowed  with 
intellectual  gifts  corresponding  with  his  station,  in  an  age  of 
comparative  barbarism,  endeavors  to  impart  to  his  land  the 
light  of  civilization  which  illumines  his  own  bosom,  and  to 
create  from  the  elements  of  discord  the  beautiful  fabric  of 
social  order.  Such  was  Isabella;  and  such  the  age  in  which 
she  lived.  And  fortunate  was  it  for  Spain  that  her  sceptre, 
at  this  crisis,  was  swayed  by  a sovereign  possessed  of  suffi- 
cient wisdom  to  devise,  and  energy  to  execute,  the  most  salu- 
tary schemes  of  reform,  and  thus  to  infuse  a new  principle 


164  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 

of  vitality  into  a government,  fast  sinking  into  premature 
decrepitude. 

The  whole  plan  of  reform  introduced  into  the  government 
by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  or  more  properly  by  the  latter, 
to  whom  the  internal  administration  of  Castile  was  princi- 
pally referred,  was  not  fully  unfolded  until  the  completion 
of  her  reign.  But  the  most  important  modifications  were 
adopted  previously  to  the  war  of  Granada  in  1482.  These 
may  be  embraced  under  the  following  heads.  I.  The  effi- 
cient administration  of  justice.  II.  The  codification  of  the 
laws.  III.  The  depression  of  the  nobles.  IV.  The  vindi- 
cation of  ecclesiastical  rights  belonging  to  the  crown  from 
the  usurpation  of  the  papal  see.  V.  The  regulation  of  trade. 
VI.  The  preeminence  of  royal  authority. 

I.  The  administration  of  justice.  In  the  dismal  anarchy, 
which  prevailed  in  Henry  the  Fourth’s  reign,  the  authority 
of  the  monarch  and  of  the  royal  judges  had  fallen  into  such 
contempt,  that  the  law  was  entirely  without  force.  The 
cities  afforded  no  better  protection  than  the  open  country. 
Every  man’s  hand  seemed  to  be  lifted  against  his  neighbor. 
Property  was  plundered;  persons  were  violated;  the  most 
holy  sanctuaries  profaned;  and  the  numerous  fortresses  scat- 
tered throughout  the  country,  instead  of  sheltering  the  weak, 
converted  into  dens  of  robbers.1  Isabella  saw  no  better 
way  of  checking  this  unbounded  license,  than  to  direct 
against  it  that  popular  engine,  the  Santa  Hermandad , or  Holy 
Brotherhood,  which  had  more  than  once  shaken  the  Cas- 
tilian monarchs  on  their  throne. 

The  project  for  the  reorganization  of  this  institution  was 
introduced  into  the  cortes  held,  the  year  after  Isabella’s  ac- 
cession at  Madrigal,  in  1476.  It  was  carried  into  effect  by 
the  junta  of  deputies  from  the  different  cities  of  the  king- 
dom, convened  at  Duenas  in  the  same  year.  The  new  insti- 
tution differed  essentially  from  the  ancient  hermandades , 
since,  instead  of  being  partial  in  its  extent,  it  was  designed 
to  embrace  the  whole  kingdom;  and,  instead  of  being  di- 
rected, as  had  often  been  the  case,  against  the  crown  itself, 
it  was  set  in  motion  at  the  suggestion  of  the  latter,  and 
limited  in  its  operation  to  the  maintenance  of  public  order. 
The  crimes,  reserved  for  its  jurisdiction,  were  all  violence 
or  theft  committed  on  the  highways  or  in  the  open  country, 
and  in  cities  by  such  offenders  as  escaped  into  the  coun- 
try; house-breaking;  rape;  and  resistance  of  justice.  The 
specification  of  these  crimes  shows  their  frequency;  and  the 
reason  for  designating  the  open  country,  as  the  particular 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE.  165 

theatre  for  the  operations  of  the  hermandad,  was  the  facility 
which  criminals  possessed  there  for  eluding  the  pursuit  of 
justice,  especially  under  shelter  of  the  strong-holds  or  fort- 
resses, with  which  it  was  plentifully  studded. 

An  annual  contribution  of  eighteen  thousand  maravedies 
was  assessed  on  every  hundred  vecinos  or  householders,  for 
the  equipment  and  maintenance  of  a horseman,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  arrest  offenders,  and  enforce  the  sentence  of  the  law. 
On  the  flight  of  a criminal,  the  tocsins  of  the  villages,  through 
which  he  was  supposed  to  have  passed,  were  sounded,  and 
the  quadrilleros  or  officers  of  the  brotherhood,  stationed  on 
the  different  points,  took  up  the  pursuit  with  such  promptness 
as  left  little  chance  of  escape.  A court  of  two  alcaldes  was 
established  in  every  town  containing  thirty  families,  for  the 
trial  of  all  crimes  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  hermandad; 
and  an  appeal  lay  from  them  in  specified  cases  to  a supreme 
council.  A general  junta,  composed  of  deputies  from  the 
cities  throughout  the  kingdom,  was  annually  convened  for 
the  regulation  of  affairs,  and  their  instructions  were  trans- 
mitted to  provincial  juntas,  who  superintended  the  execution 
of  them.  The  laws,  enacted  at  different  times  in  these  assem- 
blies, were  compiled  into  a code  under  the  sanction  of  the 
junta^general  at  Tordelaguna,  in  1485. 2 The  penalties  for 
theft,  which  are  literally  written  in  blood,  are  specified  in 
this  code  with  singular  precision.  The  most  petty  larceny 
was  punished  with  stripes,  the  loss  of  a member,  or  of  life 
itself;  and  the  law  was  administered  with  an  unsparing 
rigor,  which  nothing  but  the  extreme  necessity  of  the  case 
could  justify.  Capital  executions  were  conducted  by  shoot- 
ing the  criminal  with  arrows.  The  enactment,  relating  to 
this,  provides,  that  “the  convict  shall  receive  the  sacrament 
like  a Catholic  Christian,  and  after  that  be  executed  as  speed- 
ily as  possible,  in  order  that  his  soul  may  pass  the  more 
securely.  ” 3 

Notwithstanding  the  popular  constitution  of  the  herman- 
dad, and  the  obvious  advantages  attending  its  introduction 
at  this  juncture,  it  experienced  so  decided  an  opposition 
from  the  nobility,  who  discerned  the  check  it  was  likely  to 
impose  on  their  authority,  that  it  required  all  the  queen’s 
address  and  perseverance  to  effect  its  general  adoption. 
The  constable  de  Haro,  however,  a nobleman  of  great  weight 
from  his  personal  character,  and  the  most  extensive  landed 
proprietor  in  the  north,  was  at  length  prevailed  on  to  intro- 
duce it  among  his  vassals.  Ilis  example  was  gradually  fol- 
lowed by  others  of  the  same  rank;  and,  when  the  city  of 


i66 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


Seville,  and  the  great  lords  of  Andalusia,  had  consented  to 
receive  it,  it  speedily  became  established  throughout  the 
kingdom.  Thus  a standing  body  of  troops,  two  thousand 
in  number,  thoroughly  equipped  and  mounted,  was  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  crown,  to  enforce  the  law,  and  suppress 
domestic  insurrection.  The  supreme  junta,  which  regulated 
the  counsels  of  the  hermandad,  constituted  moreover  a sort 
of  inferior  cortes,  relieving  the  exigencies  of  government, 
as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  by  im- 
portant supplies  of  men  and  money.  By  the  activity  of  this 
new  military  police,  the  country  was,  in  the  course  of  a few 
years,  cleared  of  its  swarms  of  banditti,  as  well  as  of  the 
robber  chieftains,  whose  strength  had  enabled  them  to  defy 
the  law.  The  ministers  of  justice  found  a sure  protection 
in  the  independent  discharge  of  their  duties;  and  the  bless- 
ings of  personal  security  and  social  order,  so  k.ng  estranged 
from  the  nation,  were  again  restored  to  it. 

The  important  benefits,  resulting  from  the  institution  of 
the  hermandad,  secured  its  confirmation  by  successive  cortes, 
for  the  period  of  twenty-two  years,  in  spite  of  the  repeated 
opposition  of  the  aristocracy.  At  length,  in  1498,  the  objects 
for  which  it  was  established  having  been  completely  ob- 
tained, it  was  deemed  advisable  to  relieve  the  nation  from 
the  heavy  charges  which  its  maintenance  imposed.  The 
great  salaried  officers  were  dismissed;  a few  subordinate 
functionaries  were  retained  for  the  administration  of  justice, 
over  whom  the  regular  courts  of  criminal  law  possessed  ap- 
pellate jurisdiction;  and  the  magnificent  apparatus  of  the 
Santa  Hei'mandad,  stripped  of  all  but  the  terrors  of  its 
name,  dwindled  into  an  ordinary  police,  such  as  it  has  ex- 
isted, with  various  modifications  of  form,  down  to  the  pres- 
ent century.4 

Isabella  was  so  intent  on  the  prosecution  of  her  schemes 
of  reform,  that,  even  in  the  minuter  details,  she  frequently 
superintended  the  execution  of  them  herself.  For  this  she 
was  admirably  fitted  by  her  personal  address,  and  presence 
of  mind  in  danger,  and  by  the  influence  which  a conviction 
of  her  integrity  gave  her  over  the  minds  of  the  people.  A 
remarkable  exemplification  of  this  occurred,  the  year  but  one 
after  her  coronation,  at  Segovia.  The  inhabitants,  secretly 
instigated  by  the  bishop  of  that  place,  and  some  of  the 
principal  citizens,  rose  against  Cabrera,  marquis  of  Moya, 
to  whom  the  government  of  the  city  had  been  intrusted, 
and  who  had  made  himself  generally  unpopular  by  his  strict 
discipline.  They  even  proceeded  so  far  as  to  obtain  posses- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


l6) 


sion  of  the  outworks  of  the  citadel,  and  to  compel  the  deputy 
of  the  alcayde , who  was  himself  absent,  to  take  shelter,  to- 
gether with  the  princess  Isabella,  then  the  only  daughter  of 
the  sovereigns,  in  the  defences,  where  they  were  rigorously 
blockaded. 

The  queen,  on  receiving  tidings  of  the  event  at  Tordesillas, 
mounted  her  horse  and  proceeded  with  all  possible  de- 
spatch towards  Segovia,  attended  by  Cardinal  Mendoza, 
the  count  of  Benavente,  and  a few  others  of  her  court.  At 
some  distance  from  the  city,  she  was  met  by  a deputation  of 
the  'inhabitants,  requesting  her  to  leave  behind  the  count 
of  Benavente  and  the  marchioness  of  Moya  (the  former  of 
whom  as  the  intimate  friend,  and  the  latter  as  the  wife  of 
the  alcayde,  were  peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  citizens),  or 
they  could  not  answer  for  the  consequences.  Isabella 
haughtily  replied,  that  “she  was  queen  of  Castile;  that  the 
city  was  hers,  moreover,  by  right  of  inheritance;  and  that 
she  was  not  used  to  receive  conditions  from  rebellious  sub- 
jects.” Then  pressing  forward  with  her  little  retinue, 
through  one  of  the  gates,  which  remained  in  the  hands  of  her 
friends,  she  effected  her  entrance  into  the  citadel. 

The  jopulace,  in  the  mean  while,  assembling  in  greater 
numbers  than  before,  continued  to  show  the  most  hostile 
dispositions,  calling  out,  “Death  to  the  alcayde!  Attack  the 
" castle!”  Isabella’s  attendants,  terrified  at  the  tumult,  and 
at  the  preparations  which  the  people  were  making  to  put 
their  menaces  into  execution,  besought  their  mistress  to 
cause  the  gates  to  be  secured  more  strongly,  as  the  only 
mode  of  defense  against  the  infuriated  mob.  But,  instead 
of  listening  to  their  counsel,  she  bade  them  remain  quietly 
in  the  apartment,  and  descended  herself  into  the  court-yard, 
where  she  ordered  the  portals  to  be  thown  open  for  the  ad- 
mission of  the  people.  She  stationed  herself  at  the  further 
extremity  of  the  area,  and,  as  the  populace  poured  in,  calmly 
demanded  the  cause  of  the  insurrection.  “Tell  me,”  said 
she,  “what  are  your  grievances,  and  I will  do  all  in  my  power 
to  redress  them;  for  I am  sure  that  what  is  for  your  interest, 
must  be  also  for  mine,  and  for  that  of  the  whole  city.”  The 
insurgents,  abashed  by  the  unexpected  presence  of  their  sov- 
ereign, as  well  as  by  her  cool  and  dignified  demeanor,  replied, 
that  all  they  desired  was  the  removal  of  Cabrera  from  the 
government  of  the  city.  ‘ ‘ He  is  deposed  already,  ’ ’ answered 
the  queen,  ‘ ‘and  you  have  my  authority  to  turn  out  such  of 
his  officers  as  are  still  in  the  castle,  which  I shall  intrust  to 
one  of  my  own  servants,  on  whom  I can  rely.”  The  people, 


i68 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


pacified  by  these  assurances,  shouted  “Long  live  the  queen!” 
and  eagerly  hastened  to  obey  her  mandates. 

After  thus  turning  aside  the  edge  of  popular  fury,  Isabella 
proceeded  with  her  retinue  to  the  royal  residence  in  the  city, 
attended  by  the  fickle  multitude,  whom  she  again  addressed 
on  arriving  there,  admonishing  them  to  return  to  their  voca- 
tions, as  this  was  no  time  for  calm  inquiry;  and  promising, 
that,  if  they  would  send  three  or  four  of  their  number  to  her 
on  the  morrow  to  report  the  extent  of  their  grievances,  she 
would  examine  into  the  affair,  and  render  justice  to  all  parties. 
The  mob  accordingly  dispersed  and  the  queen,  after  a can- 
did examination,  having  ascertained  the  groundlessness  or 
gross  exaggeration  of  the  misdemeanors  imputed  to  Cabrera, 
and  traced  the  source  of  the  conspiracy  to  the  jealousy  of  the 
bishop  of  Segovia  and  his  associates,  reinstated  the  deposed 
alcayde  in  the  full  possession  of  his  dignities,  which  his  en- 
emies, either  convinced  of  the  altered  dispositions  of  the 
people,  or  believing  that  the  favorable  moment  for  resistance 
had  escaped,  made  no  further  attempts  to  disturb.  Thus 
by  a happy  presence  of  mind,  an  affair,  which  threatened, 
at  its  outset,  disastrous  consequences,  was  settled  without 
bloodshed,  or  compromise  of  the  royal  dignity.6 

In  the  summer  of  the  following  year,  1477,  Isabella  re- 
solved to  pay  a visit  to  Estremadura  and  Andalusia,  for  the 
purpose  of  composing  the  dissensions,  and  introducing  a more 
efficient  police,  in  these  unhappy  provinces;  which,  from  their 
proximity  to  the  stormy  frontier  of  Portugal,  as  well  as  from 
the  feuds  between  the  great  houses  of  Guzman  and  Ponce  de 
Leon,  were  plunged  in  the  most  frightful  anarchy.  Cardinal 
Mendoza  and  her  other  ministers  remonstrated  against  this 
imprudent  exposure  of  her  person,  where  it  was  so  little  likely 
to  be  respected.  But  she  replied,  “it  was  true  there  were 
dangers  and  inconveniences  to  be  encountered;  but  her  fate 
was  in  God’s  hands,  and  she  felt  a confidence  that  he  would 
guide  to  a prosperous  issue  such  designs  as  were  righteous 
in  themselves  and  resolutely  conducted.” 

Isabella  experienced  the  most  loyal  and  magnificent  recep- 
tion from  the  inhabitants  of  Seville,  where  she  established 
her  head-quarters.  The  first  days  of  her  residence  there 
were  consumed  in  fetes , tourneys,  tilts  of  reeds,  and  other 
exercises  of  the  Castilian  chivalry.  After  this  she  devoted 
her  whole  time  to  the  great  purpose  of  her  visit,  the  refor- 
mation of  abuses.  She  held  her  court  in  the  saloon  of  the 
alcazar,  or  royal  castle,  where  she  revived  the  ancient  prac- 
tice of  the  Castilian  sovereigns,  of  presiding  in  person  over 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


169 


the  administration  of  justice.  Every  Friday,  she  took  her 
seat  in  her  chair  of  state,  on  an  elevated  platform  covered 
with  cloth  of  gold,  and  surrounded  by  her  council,  together 
with  the  subordinate  functionaries,  and  the  insignia  of  a 
court  of  justice.  The  members  of  her  privy  council,  and 
of  the  high  court  of  criminal  law,  sat  in  their  official  capacity 
every  day  in  the  week;  and  the  queen  herself  received  such 
suits  as  were  referred  to  her  adjudication,  saving  the  parties 
the  usual  expense  and  procrastination  of  justice. 

By  the  extraordinary  despatch  of  the  queen  and  her  min- 
isters, during  the  two  months  that  she  resided  in  the  city,  a 
vast  number  of  civil  and  criminal  causes  were  disposed  of, 
a large  amount  of  plundered  property  was  restored  to  its  law- 
ful owners,  and  so  many  offenders  were  brought  to  condign 
punishment,  that  no  less  than  four  thousand  suspected  per- 
sons, it  is  computed,  terrified  by  the  prospect  of  speedy 
retribution  for  their  crimes,  escaped  into  the  neighboring 
kingdoms  of  Portugal  and  Granada.  The  worthy  burghers 
of  Seville,  alarmed  at  this  rapid  depopulation  of  the  city, 
sent  a deputation  to  the  queen,  to  deprecate  her  anger,  and 
to  represent  that  faction  had  been  so  busy  of  late  years  in 
their  unhappy  town,  that  there  was  scarcely  a family  to  be 
found  in  it,  some  of  whose  members  were  not  more  or  less 
involved  in  the  guilt.  Isabella,  who  was  naturally  of  a 
benign  disposition,  considering  that  enough  had  probably 
been  done  to  strike  a salutary  terror  into  the  remaining  de- 
linquents, was  willing  to  temper  justice  with  mercy,  and 
accordingly  granted  an  amnesty  for  all  past  offences,  save 
heresy,  on  the  condition,  however,  of  a general  restitution 
of  such  property  as  had  been  unlawfully  seized  and  retained 
during  the  period  of  anarchy.6 

But  Isabella  became  convinced  that  all  arrangements  for 
establishing  permanent  tranquillity  in  Seville  would  be  inef- 
fectual, so  long  as  the  feud  continued  between  the  great 
families  of  Guzman  and  Ponce  de  Leon.  The  duke  of 
Medina  Sidonia  and  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  the  heads  of  these 
houses,  had  possessed  themselves  of  the  royal  towns  and 
fortresses,  as  well  as  of  those  which,  belonging  to  the  city, 
were  scattered  over  its  circumjacent  territory,  where,  as 
has  been  previously  stated,  they  carried  on  war  against  each 
other,  like  independent  potentates.  The  former  of  these 
grandees  had  been  the  loyal  supporter  of  Isabella  in  the  War 
of  the  Succession.  The  marquis  of  Cadiz,  on  the  other 
hand,  connected  by  marriage  with  the  house  of  Pacheco,  had 
cautiously  withheld  his  allegiance,  although  he  had  not  testh 
Vol.  I.— s. 


170 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


fied  his  hostility  by  any  overt  act.  While  the  queen  was 
hesitating  as  to  the  course  she  should  pursue  in  reference  to 
the  marquis,  who  still  kept  himself  aloof  in  his  fortified 
castle  of  Xerez,  he  suddenly  presented  himself  by  night  at 
her  residence  in  Seville,  accompanied  only  by  two  or  three 
attendants.  He  took  this  step,  doubtless,  from  the  convic- 
tion that  the  Portuguese  faction  had  nothing  further  to  hope 
in  a kingdom,  where  Isabella  reigned  not  only  by  the  for- 
tune of  war,'  but  by  the  affections  of  the  people;  and  he  now 
eagerly  proffered  his  allegiance  to  her,  excusing  his  previ- 
ous conduct  as  he  best  could.  The  queen  was  too  well  sat- 
isfied with  the  submission,  however  tardy,  of  this  formidable 
vassal,  to  call  him  to  severe  account  for  past  delinquencies. 
She  exacted  from  him,  however,  the  full  restitution  of  such 
domains  and  fortresses  as  he  had  filched  from  the  crown 
and  from  the  city  of  Seville,  on  condition  of  similar  conces- 
sions by  his  rival,  the  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia.  She  next 
attempted  to  establish  a reconciliation  between  these  belli- 
gerent grandees;  but,  aware  that,  however  pacific  might  be 
their  demonstrations  for  the  present,  there  could  be  little 
hope  of  permanently  allaying  the  inherited  feuds  of  a cen- 
tury, whilst  the  neighborhood  of  the  parties  to  each  other 
must  necessarily  multiply  fresh  causes  of  disgust,  she  caused 
them  to  withdraw  from  Seville  to  their  estates  in  the  coun- 
try, and  by  this  expedient  succeeded  in  extinguishing  the 
flame  of  discord.7 

In  the  following  year,  1478,  Isabella  accompanied  her 
husband  in  a tour  through  Andalusia,  for  the  immediate  pur- 
pose of  reconnoitring  the  coast.  In  the  course  of  this  pro- 
gress, they  were  splendidly  entertained  by  the  duke  and 
marquis  at  their  patrimonial  estates.  They  afterward  pro- 
ceeded to  Cordova,  where  they  adopted  a similar  policy  with 
that  pursued  at  Seville,  compelling  the  count  de  Cabra,  con- 
nected with  the  blood  royal,  and  Alonso  de  Aguilar,  lord 
of  Montilla,  whose  factions  had  long  desolated  this  fair  city, 
to  withdraw  into  the  country,  and  restore  the  immense  pos- 
sessions, which  they  had  usurped  both  from  the  municipality 
and  the  crown.8 

One  example  among  others  may  be  mentioned,  of  the  rec- 
titude and  severe  impartiality,  with  which  Isabella  adminis- 
tered justice,  that  occurred  in  the  case  of  a wealthy  Galician 
knight,  named  Alvaro  Yanez  de  Lugo.  This  person,  being 
convicted  of  a capital  offence,  attended  with  the  most  aggra- 
vating circumstances,  sought  to  obtain  a commutation  of  his 
punishment,  by  the  payment  of  forty  thousand  doblas  of  gold 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE.  I 7 I 

to  the  queen,  a sum  exceeding  at  that  time  the  annual  rents 
of  the  crown.  Some  of  Isabella’s  counsellors  would  have 
persuaded  her  to  accept  the  donative,  and  appropriate  it  to 
the  pious  purposes  of  the  Moorish  war.  But,  far  from  being 
blinded  by  their  sophistry,  she  suffered  the  law  to  take  its 
course,  and,  in  order  to  place  her  conduct  above  every  sus- 
picion of  a mercenary  motive,  allowed  his  estates,  which  might 
legally  have  been  confiscated  to  the  crown,  to  descend  to  his 
natural  heirs.  Nothing  contributed  more  to  reestablish  the 
supremacy  of  law  in  this  reign,  than  the  certainty  of  its  exe- 
cution, without  respect  to  wealth  or  rank;  for  the  insubordi- 
nation, prevalent  throughout  Castile,  was  chiefly  imputable 
to  persons  of  this  description,  who,  if  they  failed  to  defeat 
justice  by  force,  were  sure  of  doing  so  by  the  corruption  of 
its  ministers.9 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  employed  the  same  vigorous  meas- 
ures in  the  other  parts  of  their  dominions,  which  had  proved 
so  successful  in  Andalusia,  for  the  extirpation  of  the  hordes 
of  banditti,  and  of  the  robber-knights,  who  differed  in  no 
respect  from  the  former,  but  in  their  superior  power.  In 
Galicia  alone,  fifty  fortresses,  the  strong-holds  of  tyranny, 
were" razed  to  the  ground,  and  fifteen  hundred  malefactors, 
it  was  computed,  were  compelled  to  fly  the  kingdom.  “The 
wretched  inhabitants  of  the  mountains,”  says  a writer  of  that 
age,  “who  had  long  since  despaired  of  justice,  blessed  God 
for  their  deliverance,  as  it  were,  from  a deplorable  captiv- 
ity.” 10 

While  the  sovereigns  were  thus  personally  occupied  with 
the  suppression  of  domestic  discord,  and  the  establishment 
of  an  efficient  police,  they  were  not  inattentive  to  the  higher 
tribunals,  to  whose  keeping,  chiefly,  were  intrusted  the  per- 
sonal rights  and  property  of  the  subject.  They  reorganized 
the  royal  or  privy  council,  whose  powers,  although,  as  has 
been  noticed  in  the  Introduction,  principally  of  an  admin- 
istrative nature,  had  been  gradually  encroaching  on  those  of 
the  superior  courts  of  law.  During  the  last  century,  this 
body  had  consisted  of  prelates,  knights,  and  lawyers,  whose 
numbers  and  relative  proportions  had  varied  in  different 
times.  The  right  of  the  great  ecclesiastics  and  nobles  to  a 
seat  in  it  was,  indeed,  recognized,  but  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness was  reserved  for  the  counsellors  specially  appointed.11 
Much  the  larger  proportion  of  these,  by  the  new  arrange- 
ment, was  made  up  of  jurists,  whose  professional  education 
and  experience  eminently  qualified  them  for  the  station. 
The  specific  duties  and  interior  management  of  the  council 


172 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


were  prescribed  with  sufficient  accuracy.  Its  authority  as 
a court  of  justice  was  carefully  limited;  but,  as  it  was 
charged  with  the  principal  executive  duties  of  government, 
it  was  consulted  in  all  important  transactions  by  the  sover- 
eigns, who  paid  great  deference  to  its  opinions,  and  very 
frequently  assisted  at  its  deliberations.12 

No  change  was  made  in  the  high  criminal  court  of  alcaldes 
de  corte , except  in  its  forms  of  proceeding.  But  the  royal 
audience,  or  chancery,  the  supreme  and  final  court  of  appeal 
in  civil  causes,  was  entirely  remodelled.  The  place  of  its 
sittings,  before  indeterminate,  and  consequently  occasioning 
much  trouble  and  cost  to  the  litigants,  was  fixed  at  Vallado- 
lid. Laws  were  passed  to  protect  the  tribunal  from  the  in- 
terference of  the  crown,  and  the  queen  was  careful  to  fill  the 
bench  with  magistrates,  whose  wisdom  and  integrity  would 
afford  the  best  guaranty  for  a faithful  interpretation  of  the 
law.13 

In  the  cortes  of  Madrigal  (1476),  and  still  more  in  the 
celebrated  one  of  Toledo  (1480),  many  excellent  provisions 
were  made  for  the  equitable  administration  of  justice,  as  well 
as  for  regulating  the  tribunals.  The  judges  were  to  ascertain 
every  week,  either  by  personal  inspection,  or  report,  the  con- 
dition of  the  prisons,  the  number  of  the  prisoners,  and  the 
nature  of  the  offences,  for  which  they  were  confined.  They 
were  required  to  bring  them  to  a speedy  trial,  and  afford 
every  facility  for  their  defence.  An  attorney  was  provided 
at  the  public  expense,  under  the  title  of  “advocate  for  the 
poor,”  whose  duty  it  was  to  defend  the  suits  of  such  as  were 
unable  to  maintain  them  at  their  own  cost.  Severe  penalties 
were  enacted  against  venality  in  the  judges,  a gross  evil  under 
the  preceding  reigns,  as  well  as  against  such  counsel  as  took 
exorbitant  fees,  or  even  maintained  actions  that  were  mani- 
festly unjust.  Finally,  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
inspect  and  make  report  of  the  proceedings  of  municipal  and 
other  inferior  courts  throughout  the  kingdom.14 

The  sovereigns  testified  their  respect  for  the  law  by  reviv- 
ing the  ancient,  but  obsolete  practice  of  presiding  personally 
in  the  tribunals,  at  least  once  a week.  “I  well  remember,” 
says  one  of  their  court,  “to  have  seen  the  queen,  together 
with  the  Catholic  king,  her  husband,  sitting  in  judgment  in 
the  alcazar  of  Madrid,  every  Friday,  dispensing  justice  to  all 
such,  great  and  small,  as  came  to  demand  it.  This  was  in- 
deed the  golden  age  of  justice,”  continues  the  enthusiastic 
writer,  “and  since  our  sainted  mistress  has  been  taken  from 
us,  it  has  been  more  difficult,  and  far  more  costly,  to  transact 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE.  1 73 

business  with  a stripling  of  a secretary,  than  it  was  with  the 
queen  and  all  her  ministers.’ ’ 15 

By  the  modifications  then  introduced,  the  basis  was  laid 
of  the  judiciary  system,  such  as  it  has  been  pepetuated  to  the 
present  age.  The  law  acquired  an  authority,  which,  in  the 
language  of  a Spanish  writer,  “caused  a decree,  signed  by 
two  or  three  judges,  to  be  more  respected  since  that  time, 
than  an  army  before.”16  But  perhaps  the  results  of  this 
improved  administration  cannot  be  better  conveyed  than  in 
the  words  of  an  eyewitness.  “Whereas,”  says  Pulgar,  “the 
kingdom  was  previously  filled  with  banditti  and  malefactors 
of  every  description,  who  committed  the  most  diabolical  ex- 
cesses, in  open  contempt  of  law,  there  was  now  such  terror 
impressed  on  the  hearts  of  all,  that  no  one  dared  to  lift  his 
arm  against  another,  or  even  to  assail  him  with  contumelious 
or  discourteous  language.  The  knight  and  the  squire,  who  had 
before  oppressed  the  laborer,  were  intimidated  by  the  fear  of 
that  justice,  which  was  sure  to  be  executed  on  them;  the 
roads  were  swept  of  the  banditti;  the  fortresses,  the  strong- 
holds of  violence,  were  thrown  open,  and  the  whole  nation, 
restored  to  tranquillity  and  order,  sought  no  other  redress, 
than  that  afforded  by  the  operation  of  the  law.”  17 

II.  Codification  of  the  laws.  Whatever  reforms  might  have 
been  introduced  into  the  Castilian  judicatures,  they  would 
have  been  of  little  avail,  without  a corresponding  improvement 
in  the  system  of  jurisprudence  by  which  their  decisions  were 
to  be  regulated.  This  was  made  up  of  the  Visigothic  code,  as 
the  basis,  the  fueros  of  the  Castilian  princes,  as  far  back  as 
the  eleventh  century,  and  the  “Siete  Partidas,”  the  famous 
compilation  of  Alfonso  the  Tenth,  digested  chiefly  from 
maxims  of  the  civil  law.18  The  deficiencies  of  these  ancient 
codes  had  been  gradually  supplied  by  such  an  accumulation 
of  statutes  and  ordinances,  as  rendered  the  legislation  of 
Castile  in  the  highest  degree  complex,  and  often  contradic- 
tory. The  embarassment,  resulting  from  this,  occasioned,  as 
may  be  imagined,  much  tardiness,  as  well  as  uncertainty,  in 
the  decisions  of  the  courts,  who,  despairing  of  reconciling  f 
the  discrepances  in  their  own  law,  governed  themselves  almost 
exclusively  by  the  Roman,  so  much  less  accomodated,  as  it 
was,  than  their  own,  to  the  genius  of  the  national  institutions, 
as  well  as  to  the  principles  of  freedom.19 

The  nation  had  long  felt  the  pressure  of  these  evils,  and 
made  attempts  to  redress  them  in  repeated  cortes.  But  every 
effort  proved  unavailing,  during  the  stormy  or  imbecile  reigns 
of  the  princes  of  Trastamara.  At  length,  the  subject  having 


i74 


ADMINISTRATION  OR  CASTILE. 


been  resumed  in  the  cortes  of  Toledo, in  1480,  Dr.  Alfonso  Diaz 
de  Montalvo,  whose  professional  science  had  been  matured 
under  the  re:gns  of  three  successive  sovereigns,  was  charged 
with  the  commission  of  revising  the  laws  of  Castile,  and  of 
compiling  a code,  which  should  be  of  general  application 
throughout  the  kingdom. 

This  laborious  undertaking  was  accomplished  in  little  more 
than  four  years;  and  his  work,  which  subsequently  bore  the 
title  of  Ordenangas  Reales , was  published,  or,  as  the  privilege 
expresses  it,  “written  with  types,”  excrito  de  letra  de  molde, 
at  Huete,  in  the  begining  of  1485.  It  was  one  of  the  first 
works,  therefore,  which  received  the  honors  of  the  press  in 
Spain;  and  surely  none  could  have  been  found,  at  that 
period,  more  deserving  of  them.  It  went  through  repeated 
editions  in  the  course  of  that,  and  the  commencement  of  the 
following  century.20  It  was  admitted  as  paramount  authority 
throughout  Castile;  and,  although  the  many  innovations, 
which  were  introduced  in  that  age  of  reform,  required  the  addi- 
tion of  two  subsidiary  codes  in  the  latter  years  of  Isabella,  the 
“Ordenanpas”  of  Montalvo  continued  to  be  the  guide  of  the 
tribunals  down  to  the  time  of  Philip  the  Second;  and  maybe 
said  to  have  suggested  the  idea,  as  indeed  it  was  the  basis 
of  the  comprehensive  compilation,  “Nueva  Recopilacion,” 
which  has  since  formed  the  law  of  the  Spanish  monarchy.21 

III.  Depression  of  the  nobles.  In  the  course  of  the  pre- 
ceding chapters,  we  have  seen  the  extent  of  the  privileges 
constitutionally  enjoyed  by  the  aristocracy,  as  well  as  the 
enormous  height  to  which  they  had  swollen  under  the  pro- 
fuse reigns  of  John  the  Second,  and  Henry  the  Fourth. 
This  was  such,  at  the  accession  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
as  to  disturb  the  balance  of  the  constitution,  and  to  give 
serious  cause  of  apprehension  both  to  the  monarch  and  the 
people.  They  had  introduced  themselves  into  every  great 
post  of  profit  or  authority.  They  had  ravished  from  the 
crown  the  estates,  on  which  it  depended  for  its  maintenance, 
as  well  as  dignity.  They  coined  money  in  their  own  mints, 
like  sovereign  princes;  and  they  covered  the  country  with 
their  fortified  castles,  whence  they  defied  the  law,  and  deso- 
lated the  unhappy  land  with  interminable  feuds.  It  was 
obviously  necessary  for  the  new  sovereigns  to  proceed  with 
the  greatest  caution  against  this  powerful  and  jealous  body, 
and,  above  all,  to  attempt  no  measure  of  importance,  in 
which  they  would  not  be  supported  by  the  hearty  cooperation 
of  the  nation. 

The  first  measure,  which  may  be  said  to  have  clearly  devel- 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


J75 


oped  their  policy,  was  the  organization  of  the  hermandad, 
which,  although  ostensibly  directed  against  offenders  of  a 
more  humble  description,  was  made  to  bear  indirectly  upon 
the  nobility,  whom  it  kept  in  awe  by  the  number  and  disci- 
pline of  its  forces,  and  the  promptness  with  which  it  could 
assemble  them  on  the  most  remote  points  of  the  kingdom; 
while  its  rights  of  jurisdiction  tended  materially  to  abridge 
those  of  the  seignorial  tribunals.  It  was  accordingly  resisted 
with  the  greatest  pertinacity  by  the  aristocracy;  although, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  resolution  of  .the  queen,  supported  by 
the  constancy  of  the  commons,  enabled  her  to  triumph  over 
all  opposition,  until  the  great  objects  of  the  institution  were 
accomplished. 

Another  measure,  which  insensibly  operated  to  the  depres- 
sion of  the  nobility,  was  making  official  preferment  depend 
less  exclusively  on  rank,  and  much  more  on  personal  merit, 
than  before.  ‘‘Since  the  hope  of  guerdon*,”  says  one  of  the 
statutes  enacted  at  Toledo,  “is  the  spur  to  just  and  honorable 
actions,  when  men  perceive  that  offices  of  trust  are  not  to 
descend  by  inheritance,  but  to  be  conferred  on  merit,  they 
will  strive  to  excel  in  virtue,  that  they  may  attain  its  re- 
ward.”22 The  sovereigns,  instead  of  confining  themselves 
to  the  grandees,  frequently  advanced  persons  of  humble 
origin,  and  especially  those  learned  in  the  law,  to  the  most 
responsible  stations,  consulting  them,  and  paying  great  defer- 
ence to  their  opinions,  on  all  matters  of  importance.  The 
nobles,  finding  that  rank  was  no  longer  the  sole,  or  indeed 
the  necessary  avenue  to  promotion,  sought  to  secure  it  by 
attention  to  more  liberal  studies,  in  which  they  were  greatly 
encouraged  by  Isabella,  who  admitted  their  children  into  her 
palace,  where  they  were  reared  under  her  own  eye.23 

But  the  boldest  assaults  on  the  power  of  the  aristocracy 
were  made  in  the  famous  cortes  of  Toledo,  in  1480,  which 
Carbajal  enthusiastically  styles  ‘‘cosa  divina  para  reforma- 
cion  y remedio  de  las  desordenes  pasadas.”21  The  first 
object  of  its  attention  was  the  condition  of  the  exchequer, 
which  Henry  the  Fourth  had  so  exhausted  by  his  reckless 
prodigality,  that  the  clear  annual  revenue  amounted  to  no 
more  than  thirty  thousand  ducats,  a sum  much  inferior  to 
that  enjoyed  by  many  private  individuals;  so  that,  stripped 
of  its  patrimony,  it  at  last  came  to  be  said,  he  was  “king 
only  of  the  highways.”  Such  had  been  the  royal  necessities, 
that  blank  certificates  of  annuities  assigned  on  the  public 
rents  were  hawked  about  the  market,  and  sold  at  such  a 
depreciated  rate,  that  the  price  of  an  annuity  did  not  exceed 


176  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 

the  amount  of  one  year’s  income.  The  commons  saw  with 
alarm  the  weight  of  the  burdens  which  must  devolve  on 
them  for  the  maintenance  of  the  crown  thus  impoverished 
in  its  resources;  and  they  resolved  to  meet  the  difficulty  by 
advising  at  once  a resumption  of  the  grants  unconstitution- 
ally made  during  the  latter  half  of  Henry  the  Fourth’s  reign, 
and  the  commencement  of  the  present.25  This  measure, 
however  violent,  and  repugnant  to  good  faith,  it  may  appear 
at  the  present  time,  seems  then  to  have  admitted  of  justifi- 
cation, as  far  as  the  nation  was  concerned;  since  such  aliena- 
tion of  the  public  revenue  was  in  itself  illegal,  and  contrary 
to  the  coronation  oath  of  the  sovereign;  and  those  who 
accepted  his  obligations,  held  them  subject  to  the  liability 
of  their  revocation,  which  had  frequently  occurred  under 
the  preceding  reigns. 

As  the  intended  measure  involved  the  interests  of  most  of 
the  considerable  proprietors  in  the  kingdom,  who  had 
thriven  on  the  necessities  of  the  crown,  it  was  deemed  proper 
to  require  the  attendance  of  the  nobility  and  great  ecclesi- 
astics in  cortes  by  a special  summons,  which  it  seems  had 
been  previously  omitted.  Thus  convened,  the  legislature 
appears,  with  great  unanimity,  and  much  to  the  credit  of 
those  most  deeply  affected  by  it,  to  have  acquiesced  in  the 
proposed  resumption  of  the  grants,  as  a measure  of  abso- 
lute necessity.  The  only  difficulty  was  to  settle  the  principles 
on  which  the  retrenchment  might  be  most  equitably  made, 
with  reference  to  creditors,  whose  claims  rested  on  a great 
variety  of  grounds.  The  plan  suggested  by  cardinal  Men- 
doza seems  to  have  been  partially  adopted.  It  was  decided, 
that  all,  whose  pensions  had  been  conferred  without  any 
corresponding  services  on  their  part,  should  forfeit  them 
entirely;  that  those,  who  had  purchased  annuities,  should 
return  their  certificates  on  a reimbursement  of  the  price  paid 
for  them;  and  that  the  remaining  creditors,  who  composed 
the  largest  class,  should  retain  such  a proportion  only  of 
their  pensions,  as  might  be  judged  commensurate  with  their 
services  to  the  state.26 

By  this  important  reduction,  the  final  adjustment  and  exe- 
cution of  which  were  intrusted  to  Fernando  de  Talavera,  the 
queen’s  confessor,  a man  of  austere  probity,  the  gross  amount 
of  thirty  millions  of  maravedies,  a sum  equal  to  three  fourths 
of  the  whole  revenue  on  Isabella’s  accession,  was  annually 
saved  to  the  crown.  The  retrenchment  was  conducted  with 
such  strict  impartiality,  that  the  most  confidential  servants 
of  the  queen,  and  the  relatives  of  her  husband,  were  among 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


177 


those  who  suffered  the  most  severely.27  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  no  diminution  whatever  was  made  of  the  stipends 
settled  on  literary  and  charitable  establishments.  It  may 
also  be  added,  that  Isabella  appropriated  the  first  fruits  of 
this  measure,  by  distributing  the  sum  of  twenty  millions  of 
maravedies  among  the  widows  and  orphans  of  those  loyalists, 
who  had  fallen  in  the  War  of  the  Succession.28  This  resump- 
tion of  the  grants  may  be  considered  as  the  basis  of  those 
economical  reforms,  which,  without  oppression  to  the  sub- 
ject, augmented  the  public  revenue  more  than  twelve  fold 
during  this  auspicious  reign.29 

Several  other  acts  were  passed  by  the  same  cortes,  which 
had  a more  exclusive  bearing  on  the  nobility.  They  were 
prohibited  from  quartering  the  royal  arms  on  their  escutch- 
eons, from  being  attended  by  a mace-bearer  and  a body- 
guard, from  imitating  the  regal  style  of  address  in  their  writ- 
ten correspondence,  and  other  insignia  of  royalty  which  they 
had  arrogantly  assumed.  They  were  forbidden  to  erect  new 
fortresses,  and  we  have  already  seen  the  activity  of  the  queen 
in  procuring  the  demolition  or  restitution  of  the  old.  They 
were  expressly  restrained  from  duels,  an  inveterate  source 
of  mischief,  for  engaging  in  which  the  parties,  both  princi- 
pals and  seconds,  were  subjected  to  the  penalties  of  treason. 
Isabella  evinced  her  determination  of  enforcing  this  law  on 
the  highest  offenders,  by  imprisoning,  soon  after  its  enact- 
ment, the  counts  of  Luna  and  Valencia  for  exchanging  a 
cartel  of  defiance,  until  the  point  at  issue  should  be  settled 
by  the  regular  course  of  justice.30 

It  is  true  the  haughty  nobility  of  Castile  winced  more  than 
once  at  finding  themselves  so  tightly  curbed  by  their  new 
masters.  On  one  occasion,  a number  of  the  principal  gran- 
dees, with  the  duke  of  Infantado  at  their  head,  addressed  a 
letter  of  remonstrance  to  the  king  and  queen,  requiring  them 
to  abolish  the  hermandad,  as  an  institution  burdensome  on 
the  nation,  deprecating  the  slight  degree  of  confidence 
which  their  highnesses  reposed  in  their  order,  and  requesting 
that  four  of  their  number  might  be  selected  to  form  a coun- 
cil for  the  general  direction  of  affairs  of  state,  by  whose  ad- 
vice the  king  and  queen  should  be  governed  in  all  matters 
of  importance,  as  in  the  time  of  Henry  the  Fourth. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  received  this  unseasonable  remon- 
strance with  great  indignation,  and  returned  an  answer 
couched  in  the  haughtiest  terms.  “The  hermandad,”  they 
said,  “is  an  institution  most  salutary  to  the  nation,  and  is 
approved  by  it  as  such.  It  is  our  province  to  determine  who 
8* 


i78 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILEo 


are  best  entitled  to  preferment,  and  to  make  merit  the  stand- 
ard of  it.  You  may  follow  the  court,  or  retire  to  your  estates, 
as  you  think  best;  but,  so  long  as  Heaven  permits  us  to  re- 
tain the  rank  with  which  we  have  been  intrusted,  we  shall 
take  care  not  to  imitate  the  example  of  Henry  the  Fourth, 
in  becoming  a tool  in  the  hands  of  our  nobility.”  The 
discontented  lords,  who  had  carried  so  high  a hand  under 
the  preceding  imbecile  reign,  feeling  the  weight  of  an  author- 
ity which  rested  on  the  affections  of  the  people,  were  so 
disconcerted  by  the  rebuke,  that  they  made  no  attempt  to 
rally,  but  condescended  to  make  their  peace  separately  as 
they  could,  by  the  most  ample  acknowledgments.31 

An  example  of  the  impartiality  as  well  as  spirit,  with  which 
Isabella  asserted  the  dignity  of  the  crown,  is  worth  record- 
ing. During  her  husband’s  absence  in  Aragon  in  the  spring 
of  1481,  a quarrel  occurred,  in  the  ante-chamber  of  the 
palace  at  Valladolid,  between  two  young  noblemen,  Ramiro 
Nunez  de  Guzman,  lord  of  Toral,  and  Frederic  Henriquez, 
son  of  the  admiral  of  Castile,  king  Ferdinand’s  uncle.  The 
queen,  on  receiving  intelligence  of  it,  granted  a safe-conduct 
to  the  lord  of  Toral,  as  the  weaker  party,  until  the  affair 
should  be  adjusted  between  them.  Don  Frederic,  however, 
disregarding  this  protection,  caused  his  enemy  to  be  waylaid 
by  three  of  his  followers,  armed  with  bludgeons,  and  sorely 
beaten  one  evening  in  the  streets  of  Valladolid. 

Isabella  was  no  sooner  informed  of  this  outrage  on  one 
whom  she  had  taken  under  the  royal  protection,  than,  burn- 
ing with  indignation,  she  immediately  mounted  her  horse, 
though  in  the  midst  of  a heavy  storm  of  rain,  and  proceeded 
alone  toward  the  castle  of  Simancas,  then  in  possession  of 
the  admiral,  the  father  of  the  offender,  where  she  supposed 
him  to  have  taken  refuge,  travelling  all  the  while  with  such 
rapidity,  that  she  was  not  overtaken  by  the  officers  of  her 
guard,  until  she  had  gained  the  fortress.  She  instantly  sum- 
moned the  admiral  to  deliver  up  his  son  to  justice;  and,  on 
his  replying  that  “Don  Frederic  was  not  there,  and  that  he 
was  ignorant  where  he  was,”  she  commanded  him  to  sur- 
rer  ler  the  keys  of  the  castle,  and,  after  a fruitless  search, 
again  returned  to  Valladolid.  The  next  day  Isabella  was 
confined  to  her  bed  by  an  illness  occasioned  as  much  by 
chagrin,  as  by  the  excessive  fatigue  which  she  had  under- 
gone. “My  body  is  lame,”  said  she,  “wdth  the  blows  given 
by  Don  Frederic  in  contempt  of  my  safe-conduct.” 

The  admiral,  perceiving  how  deeply  he  and  his  family  had 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


179 


incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  queen,  took  counsel  with 
his  friends,  who  were  led  by  their  knowledge  of  Isabella’s 
character  to  believe  that  he  would  have  more  to  hope  from 
the  surrender  of  his  son,  than  from  further  attempts  at  con- 
cealment. The  young  man  was  accordingly  conducted  to 
the  palace  by  his  uncle,  the  constable  de  Haro,  who  depre- 
cated the  queen’s  resentment  by  representing  the  age  of  his 
nephew,  scarcely  amounting  to  twenty  years.  Isabella,  how- 
ever, thought  proper  to  punish  the  youthful  delinquent,  by 
ordering  him  to  be  publicly  conducted  as  a prisoner,  by  one 
of  the  alcaldes  of  her  court,  through  the  great  square  of  Val- 
ladolid to  the  fortress  of  Arevalo,  where  he  was  detained  in 
strict  confinement,  all  privilege  of  access  being  denied  to 
him;  and,  when  at  length,  moved  by  the  consideration  of 
his  consanguinity  with  the  king,  she  consented  to  his  release, 
she  banished  him  to  Sicily,  until  he  should  receive  the  royal 
permission  to  return  to  his  own  country.32 

Notwithstanding  the  strict  impartiality  as  well  as  vigor  of 
the  administration,  it  could  never  have  maintained  itself  by 
its  own  resources  alone,  in  its  offensive  operations  against 
the  high-spirited  aristocracy  of  Castile.  Its  most  direct 
approaches,  however,  were  made,  as  we  have  seen,  under 
cover  of  the  cortes.  The  sovereigns  showed  great  deference, 
especially  in  this  early  period  of  their  reign,  to  the  popular 
branch  of  this  body;  and,  so  far  from  pursuing  the  odious 
policy  of  preceding  princes  in  diminishing  the  amount  of 
represented  cities,  they  never  failed  to  direct  their  writs  to 
all  those,  which,  at  their  accession,  retained  the  right  of 
representation,  and  subsequently  enlarged  the  number  by 
the  conquest  of  Granada;  while  they  exercised  the  anomalous 
privilege,  noticed  in  the  Introduction  to  this  History,  of 
omitting  altogether,  or  issuing  only  a partial  summons  to 
the  nobility.33  By  making  merit  the  standard  of  preferment, 
they  opened  the  path  of  honor  to  every  class  of  the  commu- 
nity. They  uniformly  manifested  the  greatest  tenderness 
for  the  rights  of  the  commons  in  reference  to  taxation;  and, 
as  their  patriotic  policy  was  obviously  directed  to  secure  the 
personal  rights  and  general  prosperity  of  the  people,  it 
insured  the  cooperation  of  an  ally,  whose  weight,  combined 
with  that  of  the  crown,  enabled  them  eventually  to  restore 
the  equilibrium  which  had  been  disturbed  by  the  undue  pre- 
ponderance of  the  aristocracy. 

It  may  be  well  to  state  here  the  policy  pursued  by  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella  in  reference  to  the  Military  Orders  of 


i So 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


Castile,  since,  although  not  fully  developed  until  a much  later 
period,  it  was  first  conceived,  and  indeed  partly  executed, 
in  that  now  under  discussion. 

The  uninterrupted  warfare,  which  the  Spaniards  were  com- 
pelled to  maintain  for  the  recovery  of  their  native  land  from 
the  infidel,  nourished  in  their  bosoms  a flame  of  enthusiasm, 
similar  to  that  kindled  by  the  crusades  for  the  recovery  of 
Palestine,  partaking  in  an  almost  equal  degree  of  a religious 
and  a military  character.  This  similarity  of  sentiment  gave 
birth  also  to  similar  institutions  of  chivalry.  Whether  the 
military  orders  of  Castile  were  suggested  by  those  of  Pales- 
tine, or  whether  they  go  back  to  a remoter  period,  as  is  con- 
tended by  their  chroniclers,  or  whether,  in  fine,  as  Conde 
intimates,  they  were  imitated  from  corresponding  associa- 
tions, known  to  have  existed  among  the  Spanish  Arabs,34 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  forms,  under  which  they 
were  permanently  organized,  were  derived,  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  twelfth  century,  from  the  monastic  orders  established 
for  the  protection  of  the  Holy  Land.  The  Hospitallers,  and 
especially  the  Templars,  obtained  more  extensive  acquisitions 
in  Spain,  than  in  any,  perhaps  every,  other  country  in 
Christendom;  and  it  was  partly  from  the  ruins  of  their  em- 
pire, that  were  constructed  the  magnificent  fortunes  of  the 
Spanish  orders.35 

The  most  eminent  of  these  was  the  order  of  St.  Jago,  or 
St.  James,  of  Compostella.  The  miraculous  revelation  of 
the  body  of  the  Apostle,  after  the  lapse  of  eight  centuries 
from  the  date  of  his  interment,  and  his  frequent  apparition 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Christian  armies,  in  their  desperate 
struggles  with  the  infidel,  had  given  so  wide  a celebrity  to 
the  obscure  town  of  Compostella  in  Galicia,  which  con- 
tained the  sainted  relics,36  that  it  became  the  resort  of  pil- 
grims from  every  part  of  Christendom,  during  the  middle 
ages;  and  the  escalop  shell,  the  device  of  St.  James,  was 
adopted  as  the  universal  badge  of  the  palmer.  Inns  for  the 
refreshment  and  security  of  the  pious  itinerants  were  scat- 
tered along  the  whole  line  of  the  route  from  France;  but,  as 
they  were  exposed  to  perpetual  annoyance  from  the  preda- 
tory incursions  of  the  Arabs,  a number  of  knights  and  gentle- 
men associated  themselves  for  their  protection,  with  the  monks 
of  St.  Lojo,  or  Eloy,  adopting  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine,  and 
thus  laid  the  foundation  of  the  chivalric  order  of  St.  James, 
about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  cavaliers  of 
the  fraternity,  which  received  its  papal  bull  of  approbation 
five  years  later,  in  1175,  were  distinguished  by  a white 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE.  l8l 

mantle  embroidered  with  a reef- cross,  in  fashion  of  a sword, 
with  the  escalop  shell  below  the  guard,  in  imitation  of  the 
device  which  glittered  on  the  banner  of  their  tutelar  saint, 
when  he  condescended  to  take  part  in  their  engagements 
with  the  Moors.  The  red  color  denoted,  according  to  an 
ancient  commentator,  “that  it  was  stained  with  the  blood  of 
the  infidel.”  The  rules  of  the  new  order  imposed  on  its 
members  the  usual  obligations  of  obedience,  community  of 
property,  and  of  conjugal  chastity,  instead  of  celibacy.  They 
were,  moreover,  required  to  relieve  the  poor,  defend  the 
traveller,  and  maintain  perpetual  war  upon  the  Mussulman.37 

The  institution  of  the  Knights  of  Calatrava  was  somewhat 
more  romantic  in  its  origin.  That  town,  from  its  situation 
on  the  frontiers  of  the  Moorish  territory  of  Andalusia,  where 
it  commanded  the  passes  into  Castile,  became  of  vital  impor- 
tance to  the  latter  kingdom.  Its  defence  had  accordingly 
been  intrusted  to  the  valiant  order  of  the  Templars,  who, 
unable  to  keep  their  ground  against  the  pertinacious  assaults 
of  X he  Moslems,  abandoned  it,  at  the  expiration  of  eight 
years,  as  untenable.  This  occurred  about  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century;  and  the  Castilian  monarch,  Sancho  the  Be- 
loved, as  the  last  resort,  offered  it  to  whatever  good  knights 
would  undertake  its  defence. 

The  emprise  was  eagerly  sought  by  a monk  of  a distant 
convent  in  Navarre,  who  had  once  been  a soldier,  and  whose 
military  ardor  seems  to  have  been  exalted,  instead  of  being- 
extinguished,  in  the  solitude  of  the  cloister.  The  monk, 
supported  by  his  conventual  brethren,  and  a throng  of  cava- 
liers and  more  humble  followers,  who  sought  redemption 
under  the  banner  of  the  church,  was  enabled  to  make  good 
his  word.  From  the  confederation  of  these  knights  and  eccle- 
siastics, sprung  the  military  fraternity  of  Calatrava,  which 
received  the  confirmation  of  the  pontiff,  Alexander  the  Third, 
in  1164.  The  rules  which  it  adopted  were  those  of  St.  Bene- 
dict, and  its  discipline  was  in  the  highest  degree  austere. 

The  cavaliers  were  sworn  to  perpetual  celibracy,  from 
which  they  were  not  released  till  so  late  as  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. Their  diet  was  of  the  plainest  kind.  They  were 
allowed  meat  only  thrice  a week,  and  then  only  one  dish. 
They  were  to  maintain  unbroken  silence  at  the  table,  in  the 
chapel,  and  the  dormitory;  and  they  were  enjoined  both  to 
sleep  and  to  worship  with  the  sword  girt  on  their  side,  in 
token  of  readiness  for  action.  In  the  earlier  days  of  the  insti- 
tution, the  spiritual,  as  well  as  the  military  brethren,  were 
allowed  to  make  part  of  the  martial  array  against  the  infidel, 


182 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


until  this  was  prohibited,  as  indecorous,  by  the  Holy  See. 
From  this  order,  branched  off  that  of  Montesa,  in  Valencia, 
which  was  instituted  at  the  commencement  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  and  continued  dependent  on  the  parent  stock.38 

The  third  great  order  of  religious  chivalry  in  Castile  was 
that  of  Alcantara,  which  also  received  its  confirmation  from 
Pope  Alexander  the  Third,  in  1177.  It  was  long  held  in 
nominal  subordination  to  the  knights  of  Calatrava,  from 
which  it  was  relieved  by  Julius  the  Second,  and  eventually 
rose  to  an  importance  little  inferior  to  that  of  its  rival.39 

The  internal  economy  of  these  three  fraternities  was  regu- 
lated by  the  same  general  principles.  The  direction  of  affairs 
was  intrusted  to  a council,  consisting  of  the  grand  master 
and  a number  of  the  commanders  ( comendadores ),  among 
whom  the  extensive  territories  of  the  order  were  distributed. 
This  council,  conjointly  with  the  grand  master,  or  the  latter 
exclusively,  as  in  the  fraternity  of  Calatrava,  supplied  the 
vacancies.  The  master  himself  was  elected  by  a general 
chapter  of  these  military  functionaries  alone,  or  combined 
with  the  coventual  clergy,  as  in  the  order  of  Calatrava,  which 
seems  to  have  recognized  the  supremacy  of  the  military  over 
the  spiritual  division  of  the  community,  more  unreservedly 
than  that  of  St.  James. 

These  institutions  appear  to  have  completely  answered  the 
objects  of  their  creation.  In  the  earlier  history  of  the  Penin- 
sula, we  find  the  Christian  chivalry  always  ready  to  bear 
the  brunt  of  battle  against  the  Moors.  Set  apart  for  this 
peculiar  duty,  their  services  in  the  sanctuary  only  tended 
to  prepare  them  for  their  sterner  duties  in  the  field  of  battle, 
where  the  zeal  of  the  Christian  soldier  may  be  supposed  to 
have  been  somewhat  sharpened  by  the  prospect  of  the  rich 
temporal  acquisitions,  which  the  success  of  his  arms  was  sure 
to  secure  to  his  fraternity.  For  the  superstitious  princes  of 
those  times,  in  addition  to  the  wealth  lavished  so  liberally 
on  all  monastic  institutions,  granted  the  military  orders  almost 
unlimited  rights  over  the  conquests  achieved  by  their  own 
valor.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  we  find  the  order  of  St. 
James,  which  had  shot  up  to  a preeminence  above  the  rest, 
possessed  of  eighty-four  commanderies,  and  two  hundred 
inferior  benefices.  This  same  order  could  bring  into  the 
field,  according  to  Garibay,  four  hundred  belted  knights,  and 
one  thousand  lances,  which,  with  the  usual  complement  of  a 
lance  in  that  day,  formed  a very  considerable  force.  The 
rents  of  the  mastership  of  St.  James  amounted,  in  the  time 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  to  sixty  thousand  ducats,  those 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE.  183 

of  Alcantara  to  forty-five  thousand  and  those  of  Calatrava 
to  forty  thousand.  There  was  scarcely  a district  of  the 
Peninsula  which  was  not  covered  with  their  castles,  towns, 
and  convents.  Their  rich  commanderies  gradually  became 
objects  of  cupidity  to  men  of  the  highest  rank,  and  more 
especially  the  grand -masterships,  which,  from  their  exten- 
sive patronage,  and  the  authority  they  conferred  over  an 
organized  militia  pledged  to  implicit  obedience,  and  knit 
together  by  the  strong  tie  of  common  interest,  raised  their 
possessors  almost  to  the  level  of  royalty  itself.  Hence  the 
elections  to  these  important  dignities  came  to  be  a fruitful 
source  of  intrigue,  and  frequently  of  violent  collision.  The 
monarchs,  who  had  anciently  reserved  the  right  of  testifying 
their  approbation  of  an  election,  by  presenting  the  standard 
of  the  order  to  the  new  dignitary,  began  personally  to  inter- 
fere in  the  deliberations  of  the  chapter.  While  the  pope,  to 
whom  a contested  point  was  not  unfrequently  referred, 
assumed  at  length  the  prerogative  of  granting  the  master- 
ships in  administration  on  a vacancy,  and  even  that  of  nom- 
ination itself,  which,  if  disputed,  he  enforced  by  his  spiritual 
thunders.40 

Owing  to  these  circumstances,  there  was  probably  no  one 
cause,  among  the  many  which  occurred  in  Castile  during  the 
fifteenth  century,  more  prolific  of  intestine  discord,  than  the 
election  to  these  posts,  far  too  important  to  be  intrusted  to 
any  subject,  and  the  succession  to  which  was  sure  to  be 
contested  by  a host  of  competitors.  Isabella  seems  to  have 
settled  in  her  mind  the  course  of  policy  to  be  adopted  in  this 
matter,  at  a very  early  period  of  her  reign.  On  occasion  of 
a vacancy  in  the  grand-mastership  of  St.  James,  by  the  death 
of  the  incumbent,  in  1476,  she  made  a rapid  journey  on 
horseback,  her  usual  mode  of  travelling,  from  Valladolid  to 
the  town  of  Ucles,  where  a chapter  of  the  order  was  deliber- 
ating on  the  election  of  a new  principal.  The  queen,  pre- 
senting herself  before  this  body,  represented  with  so  much 
energy  the  inconvenience  of  devolving  powers  of  such  mag- 
nitude on  any  private  individual,  and  its  utter  incompatibility 
with  public  order,  that  she  prevailed  on  them,  smarting,  as 
they  were,  under  the  evils  of  a disputed  succession,  to  solicit 
the  administration  for  the  king,  her  husband.  That  monarch, 
indeed,  consented  to  wave  this  privilege  in  favor  of  Alonso 
de  Cardenas,  one  of  the  competitors  for  the  office,  and  a 
loyal  servant  of  the  crown;  but,  at  his  decease  in  1499,  the 
sovereigns  retained  the  possession  of  the  vacant  mastership, 
conformably  to  a papal  decree,  which  granted  them  its  ad- 


184  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 

ministration  for  life,  in  the  same  manner  as  had  been  done 
with  that  of  Calatrava  in  1487,  and  of  Alcantara,  in  1494. 41 

The  sovereigns  were  no  sooner  vested  with  the  control  of 
the  military  orders,  than  they  began  with  their  characteristic 
promptness  to  reform  the  various  corruptions,  which  had 
impaired  their  ancient  discipline.  They  erected  a council 
for  the  general  superintendence  of  affairs  relating  to  the 
orders,  and  invested  it  with  extensive  powers  both  of  civil 
and  criminal  jurisdiction.  They  supplied  the  vacant  benefi- 
ces with  persons  of  acknowledged  worth,  exercising  an  im- 
partiality, which  could  never  be  maintained  by  any  private 
individual,  necessarily  exposed  to  the  influence  of  personal 
interests  and  affections.  By  this  harmonious  distribution, 
the  honors,  which  had  before  been  held  up  to  the  highest 
bidder,  or  made  the  subject  of  a furious  canvass,  became  the 
incentive  and  sure  recompense  of  desert.42 

In  the  following  reign,  the  grand-masterships  of  these 
fraternities  were  annexed  in  perpetuity  to  the  crown  of  Cas- 
tile by  a bull  of  Pope  Adrian  the  Sixth;  while  their  subordinate 
dignities,  having  survived  the  object  of  their  original  creation, 
the  subjugation  of  the  Moors,  degenerated  into  the  empty 
decorations,  the  stars  and  garters,  of  an  order  of  nobility.43 

IV.  Vindication  of  ecclesiastical  rights  belonging  to  the 
crown  from  papal  usurpation.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  the 
Castilian  monarchy,  the  sovereigns  appear  to  have  held  a 
supremacy  in  spiritual,  very  similar  to  that  exercised  by 
them  in  temporal  matters.  It  was  comparatively  late  that 
the  nation  submitted  its  neck  to  the  papal  yoke,  so  closely 
riveted  at  a subsequent  period;  and  even  the  Romish  ritual 
was  not  admitted  into  its  churches  till  long  after  it  had  been 
adopted  in  the  rest  of  Europe.44  But,  when  the  code  of  the 
Partidas  was  promulgated  in  the  thirteenth  century,  the 
maxims  of  the  canon  law  came  to  be  permanently  established. 
The  ecclesiastical  encroached  on  the  lay  tribunals.  Appeals 
were  perpetually  carried  up  to  the  Roman  court;  and  the 
popes.,  pretending  to  regulate  the  minutest  details  of  church 
economy,  not  only  disposed  of  inferior  benefices,  but  gradually 
converted  the  right  of  confirming  elections  to  the  episcopal 
and  higher  ecclesiastical  dignities,  into  that  of  appointment.45 

These  usurpations  of  the  church  had  been  repeatedly  the 
subject  of  grave  remonstrance  in  cortes.  Several  remedial 
enactments  had  passed  that  body,  during  the  present  reign, 
especially  in  relation  to  the  papal  provision  of  foreigners  to 
benefices;  an  evil  of  much  greater  magnitude  in  Spain  than 
in  other  countries  of  Europe,  since  the  episcopal  demesnes, 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE.  185 

frequently  covering  the  Moorish  frontier,  became  an  impor- 
tant line  of  national  defense,  obviously  improper  to  be  in- 
trusted to  the  keeping  of  foreigners  and  absentees.  Notwith- 
standing the  efforts  of  cortes,  no  effectual  remedy  was  devised 
for  this  latter  grievance,  until  it  became  the  subject  of  actual 
collision  between  the  crown  and  the  pontiff,  in  reference  to 
the  see  of  Tarapona,  and  afterwards  of  Cuenpa.46 

Sixtus  the  Fourth  had  conferred  the  latter  benefice,  on  its 
becoming  vacant  in  1482,  on  his  nephew,  Cardinal  San  Gior- 
gio, a Genoese,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  the  queen, 
who  would  have  bestowed  it  on  her  chaplain,  Alfonso  de  Bur- 
gos, in  exchange  for  the  bishopric  of  Cordova.  An  ambassa- 
dor was  accordingly  despatched  by  the  Castilian  sovereigns  to 
Rome,  to  remonstrate  on  the  papal  appointment;  but  without 
effect,  as  Sixtus  replied,  with  a degree  of  presumption,  which 
might  better  have  become  his  predecessors  of  the  twelfth 
century,  that  “he  was  head  of  the  church,  and,  as  such,  pos- 
sessed of  unlimited  power  in  the  distribution  of  benefices,  and 
that  he  was  not  bound  to  consult  the  inclination  of  anv 
potentate  on  earth,  any  farther  than  might  subserve  the  in- 
terests of  religion.” 

The  sovereigns,  highly  dissatisfied^with  this  response,  or- 
dered their  subjects,  ecclesiastical,  as  well  as  lay,  to  quit  the 
papal  dominions;  an  injunction,  which  the  former,  fearful  of 
the  sequestration  of  their  temporalities  in  Castile,  obeyed 
with  as  much  promptness  as  the  latter.  At  the  same  time, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  proclaimed  their  intention  of  inviting 
the  princes  of  Christendom  to  unite  with  them  in  convoking 
a general  council  for  the  reformation  of  the  manifold  abuses, 
which  dishonored  the  church.  No  sound  could  have  grated 
more  unpleasantly  on  the  pontifical  ear,  than  the  menace  of 
a general  council,  particularly  at  this  period,  when  ecclesias- 
tical corruptions  had  reached  a height  which  could  but  ill 
endure  its  scrutiny.  The  pope  became  convinced  that  he 
had  ventured  too  far,  and  that  Henry  the  Fourth  was  no 
longer  monarch  of  Castile.  He  accordingly  despatched  a 
legate  to  Spain,  fully  empowered  to  arrange  the  matter  on  an 
amicable  basis. 

The  legate,  who  was  a layman,  by  name  Domingo  Centu- 
rion, no  sooner  arrived  in  Castile,  than  he  caused  the  sov- 
ereigns to  be  informed  of  his  presence  there,  and  the  pur- 
pose of  his  mission;  but  he  received  orders  instantly  to  quit 
the  kingdom,  without  attempting  so  much  as  to  disclose  the 
nature  of  his  instructions,  since  they  could  not  but  be  derog- 
atory to  the  dignity  of  the  crown.  A safe-conduct  was 


i86 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


granted  for  himself  and  his  suite;  but,  at  the  same  time,  great 
surprise  was  expressed  that  any  one  should  venture  to  appear, 
as  envoy  from  his  Holiness,  at  the  court  of  Castile,  after  it 
had  been  treated  by  him  with  such  unmerited  indignity. 

Far  from  resenting  this  ungracious  reception,  the  legate 
affected  the  deepest  humility;  professing  himself  willing  to 
waive  whatever  immunities  he  might  claim  as  papal  ambassa- 
dor, and  to  submit  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  sovereigns  as 
one  of  their  own  subjects,  so  that  he  might  obtain  an  au- 
dience. Cardinal  Mendoza,  whose  influence  in  the  cabinet 
had  gained  him  the  title  of  “third  king  of  Spain,”  apprehen- 
sive of  the  consequences  of  a protracted  rupture  with  the 
church,  interposed  in  behalf  of  the  envoy,  whose  conciliatory 
deportment  at  length  so  far  mitigated  the  resentment  of  the 
sovereigns,  that  they  consented  to  open  negotiations  with  the 
court  of  Rome.  The  result  was  the  publication  of  a bull 
by  Sixtus  the  Fourth,  in  which  his  Holiness  engaged  to  pro- 
vide such  natives  to  the  higher  dignities  of  the  church  in 
Castile,  as  should  be  nominated  b)^  the  monarchs  of  that  king- 
dom; and  Alfonso  de  Burgos  was  accordingly  translated  to 
the  see  of  Cuenga.47  Isabella,  on  whom  the  duties  of  eccle- 
siastical preferment  devolved,  by  the  act  of  settlement,  availed 
herself  of  the  rights,  thus  wrested  from  the  grasp  of  Rome, 
to  exalt  to  the  vacant  sees  persons  of  exemplary  piety  and 
learning,^  holding  light,  in  comparison  with  the  faithful  dis- 
charge of  this  duty,  every  minor  consideration  of  interest, 
and  even  the  solicitations  of  her  husband,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter.48  And  the  chronicler  of  her  reign  dwells  with  com- 
placency on  those  good  old  times,  when  churchmen  were  to 
be  found  of  such  singular  modesty,  as  to  require  to  be  urged 
to  accept  the  dignities  to  which  their  merits  entitled  them.49 

V.  The  regulation  of  trade.  It  will  be  readily  conceived 
that  trade,  agriculture,  and  every  branch  of  industry  must 
have  languished  under  the  misrule  of  preceding  reigns.  For 
what  purpose,  indeed,  strive  to  accumulate  wealth,  when  it 
would  only  serve  to  sharpen  the  appetite  of  the  spoiler?  For 
what  purpose  cultivate  the  earth,  when  the  fruits • were  sure 
to  be  swept  away,  even  before  harvest  time,  in  some  ruthless 
foray?  The  frequent  famines  and  pestilences,  which  oc- 
curred in  the  latter  part  of  Henry’s  reign  and  the  commence- 
ment of  his  successor’s,  show  too  plainly  the  squalid  con- 
dition of  the  people,  and  their  utter  destitution  of  all  useful 
arts.  We  are  assured  by  the  Curate  of  Los  Palacios,  that 
the  plague  broke  out  in  the  southern  districts  of  the  kingdom, 
carrying  off  eight,  or  nine,  or  even  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


I87 


from  the  various  cities;  while  the  prices  of  the  ordinary 
aliments  of  life  rose  to  a height,  which  put  them  above  the 
reach  of  the  poorer  classes  of  the  community.  In  addition 
to  these  physical  evils,  a fatal  shock  was  given  to  commercial 
credit  by  the  adulteration  of  the  coin.  Under  Henry  the 
Fourth,  it  is  computed  that  there  were  no  less  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  mints  openly  licensed  by  the  crown,  in  addition 
to  many  others  erected  by  individuals  without  any  legal 
authority.  The  abuse  came  to  such  a height,  that  people  at 
length  refused  to  receive  in  payment  of  their  debts  the  de- 
based coin,  whose  value  depreciated  more  and  more  every 
day;  and  the  little  trade,  which  remained  in  Castile,  was 
carried  on  by  barter,  as  in  the  primitive  stages  of  society.50 

The  magnitude  of  the  evil  was  such  as  to  claim  the  earli- 
est attention  of  the  cortes  under  the  new  monarchs.  Acts 
were  passed  fixing  the  standard  and  legal  value  of  the  differ- 
ent denominations  of  coin.  A new  coinage  was  subsequently 
made.  Five  royal  mints  were  alone  authorized,  afterward 
augmented  to  seven,  and  severe  penalties  denounced  against 
the  fabrication  of  money  elsewhere.  The  reform  of  the  cur- 
rency gradually  infused  new  life  into  commerce,  as  the  return 
of  the  circulations,  which  have  been  interrupted  for  a while, 
quickens  the  animal  body.  This  was  furthered  by  salutary 
laws  for  the  encouragement  of  domestic  industry.  Inter- 
nal communication  was  facilitated  by  the  construction  of 
roads  and  bridges.  Absurd  restrictions  on  change  of  resi- 
dence, as  well  as  the  onerous  duties  which  had  been  imposed 
on  commercial  intercourse  between  Castile  and  Aragon,  were 
repealed.  Several  judicious  laws  were  enacted  for  the  pro- 
tection of  foreign  trade;  and  the  flourishing  condition  of  the 
mercantile  marine  may  be  inferred  from  that  of  the  military, 
which  enabled  the  sovereigns  to  fit  out  an  armament  of 
seventy  sail  in  1482,  from  the  ports  of  Biscay  and  Andalusia, 
for  the  defence  of  Naples  against  the  Turks.  Some  of  their 
regulations,  indeed,  as  these  prohibiting  the  exportation  of 
the  precious  metals,  savor  too  strongly  of  the  ignorance  of 
the  true  principles  of  commercial  legislation,  which  has  dis- 
tinguished the  Spaniards  to  the  present  day.  But  others, 
again,  as  that  for  relieving  the  importation  of  foreign  books 
from  all  duties,  “because,”  says  the  statute,  “they  bring 
both  honor  and  profit  to  the  kingdom,  by  the  facilities  which 
they  afford  for  making  men  learned,”  are  not  only  in  ad- 
vance of  that  age,  but  may  sustain  an  advantageous  compar- 
ison with  provisions  on  corresponding  subjects  in  Spain  at 
the  present  time.  Public  credit  was  reestablished  by  the 


l88  ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 

punctuality  with  which  the  government  redeemed  the  debt 
contracted  during  the  Portuguese  war;  and,  notwithstanding 
the  repeal  of  various  arbitrary  imposts,  which  enriched  the 
exchequer  under  Henry  the  Fourth,  such  was  the  advance 
of  the  country  under  the  wise  economy  of  the  present  reign, 
that  the  revenue  was  augmented  nearly  six  fold  between 
the  years  1477  and  1482. 51 

Thus  released  from  the  heavy  burdens  imposed  on  it,  the 
spring  of  enterprise  recovered  its  former  elasticity.  The 
productive  capital  of  the  country  was  made  to  flow  through 
the  various  channels  of  domestic  industry.  The  hills  and 
the  valleys  again  rejoiced  in  the  labor  of  the  husbandman; 
and  the  cities  were  embellished  with  stately  edifices,  both 
public  and  private,  which  attracted  the  gaze  and  commen- 
dation of  foreigners.52  The  writers  of  that  day  are  unbounded 
in  their  plaudits  of  Isabella,  to  whom  they  principally  ascribe 
this  auspicious  revolution  in  the  condition  of  the  country 
and  its  inhabitants,53  which  seems  almost  as  magical  as  one 
of  those  transformations  in  romance  wrought  by  the  hands 
of  some  benevolent  fairy.54 

VI.  The  preeminence  of  the  royal  authority.  This,  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  appears  to  have  been  the  natural  result  of 
the  policy  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  was  derived  quite  as 
much  from  the  influence  of  their  private  characters,  as  from 
their  public  measures.  Their  acknowledged  talents  were 
supported  by  a dignified  demeanor,  which  formed  a striking 
contrast  with  the  meanness  in  mind  and  manners,  that  had 
distinguished  their  predecessor.  They  both  exhibited  a 
practical  wisdom  in  their  own  personal  relations,  which  always 
commands  respect,  and  which,  however  it  may  have  savored 
of  worldly  policy  in  Ferdinand,  was,  in  bis  consort,  founded 
on  the  purest  and  most  exalted  principle.  Under  such  a sov- 
ereign, the  court,  which  had  been  little  better  than  a brothel 
under  the  preceding  reign,  became  the  nursery  of  virtue  and 
generous  ambition.  Isabella  watched  assiduously  over  the 
nurture  of  the  high-born  damsels  of  her  court,  whom  she 
received  into  the  royal  palace,  causing  them  to  be  educated 
under  her  own  eye,  and  endowing  them  with  liberal  portions 
on  their  marriage.55  By  these  and  similar  acts  of  affection- 
ate solicitude,  she  endeared  herself  to  the  higher  classes  of 
her  subjects,  while  the  patriotic  tendency  of  her  public  con- 
duct established  her  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  She  pos- 
essed,  in  combination  with  the  feminine  qualities  which  beget 
love,  a masculine  energy  of  character,  which  struck  terror 
into  the  guilty  She  enforced  the  execution  of  her  own 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


189 


plans,  oftentimes  at  the  risk  of  great  personal  danger,  with 
a resolution  surpassing  that  of  her  husband.  Both  were 
singularly  temperate,  indeed,  frugal,  in  their  dress,  equip- 
age, and  general  style  of  living;  seeking  to  affect  others  less 
by  external  pomp,  than  by  the  silent  though  more  potent 
influence  of  personal  qualities.  On  all  such  occasions  as 
demanded  it,  however,  they  displayed  a princely  magnifi- 
cence, which  dazzled  the  multitude,  and  is  blazoned  with 
great  solemnity  in  the  garrulous  chronicles  of  the  day.57 

The  tendencies  of  the  present  administration  were  un- 
doubtedly to  strengthen  the  power  of  the  crown.  This  was 
the  point,  to  which  most  of  the  feudal  governments  of  Europe 
at  this  epoch  were  tending.  But  Isabella  was  far  from 
being  actuated  by  the  selfish  aim  or  unscrupulous  policy  of 
many  contemporary  princes,  who,  like  Louis  the  Eleventh 
sought  to  govern  by  the  arts  of  dissimulation,  and  to  estab- 
lish their  own  authority  by  fomenting  the  divisions  of  their 
powerful  vassals.  On  the  contrary,  she  endeavored  to  bind 
together  the  disjointed  fragments  of  the  state,  to  assign  to 
each  of  its  great  divisions  its  constitutional  limits,  and  by 
depressing  the  aristocracy  to  its  proper  level  and  elevating 
the  commons,  to  consolidate  the  whole  under  the  lawful 
surpemacy  of  the  crown.  At  least,  such  was  the  tendency 
of  her  administration  up  to  the  present  period  of  our  history. 
These  laudable  objects  were  gradually  achieved  without 
fraud  or  violence,  by  a course  of  measures  equally  laudable; 
and  the  various  orders  of  the  monarchy,  brought  into  harmo- 
nious action  with  each  other,  were  enabled  to  turn  the  forces, 
which  had  before  been  wasted  in  civil  conflict,  to  the  glori- 
ous career  of  discovery  and  conquest,  which  it  was  destined 
to  run  during  the  remainder  of  the  century. 


The  sixth  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Spanish  Academy  of  His- 
tory, published  in  1821,  is  devoted  altogether  to  the  reign  of  Isabella.  It 
is  distributed  into  Illustrations,  as  they  are  termed,  of  the  various  branches 
of  the  administrative  policy  of  the  queen,  of  her  personal  character,  and  of 
the  condition  of  science  under  her  government.  These  essays  exhibit  much 
curious  research,  being  derived  from  unquestionable  contemporary  docu- 
ments, printed  and  manuscript,  and  from  the  public  archives.  They  are 
compiled  with  much  discernment;  and,  as  they  throw  light  on  some  of  the 
most  recondite  transactions  of  this  reign,  are  of  inestimable  service  to  the 
historian.  The  author  of  the  volume  is  the  late  lamented  secretary  of  the 
Academy,  Don  Diego  Clemencin;  one  of  the  few  who  survived  the  wreck 
of  scholarship  in  Spain,  and  who  with  the  erudition,  which  has  frequently 
distinguished  his  countrymen,  combined  the  liberal  and  enlarged  opinions, 
which  would  do  honor  to  any  country. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  MODERN  INQUISITION. 

Origin  of  the  Ancient  Inquisition. — Retrospective  View  of  the  Jews  in 
Spain. — Their  Wealth  and  Civilization. — Bigotry  of  the  Age. — Its 
influence  on  Isabella. — Her  Confessor,  Torquemada. — Bull  author- 
izing the  Inquisition. — Tribunal  at  Seville. — Forms  of  Trial. — Tor- 
ture.— Autos  da  Fe. — Number  of  Convictions. — Perfidious  Policy  of 
Rome. 

It  is  painfui,  after  having  dwelt  so  long  on  the  important 
benefits  resulting  to  Castile  from  the  comprehensive  policy 
of  Isabella,  to  be  compelled  to  turn  to  the  darker  side  of  the 
picture,  and  to  exhibit  her  as  accommodating  herself  to  the 
illiberal  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  she  lived,  so  far  as  to  sanc- 
tion one  of  the  grossest  abuses  that  ever  disgraced  human- 
ity The  present  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  the  establish- 
ment and  early  progress  of  the  Modern  Inquisition;  an  insti- 
tution, which  has  probably  contributed  more  than  any  other 
cause  to  depress  the  lofty  character  of  the  ancient  Spaniard, 
and  which  has  thrown  the  gloom  of  fanaticism  over  those 
lovely  regions  which  seem  to  be  the  natural  abode  of  festivity 
and  pleasure. 

In  the  present  liberal  state  of  knowledge,  we  look  with 
disgust  at  the  pretensions  of  any  human  being,  however 
exalted,  to  invade  the  sacred  rights  of  conscience,  inalien- 
ably possessed  by  every  man.  We  feel  that  the  spiritual  con- 
cerns of  an  individual  may  be  safely  left  to  himself,  as  most 
interested  in  them,  except  so  far  as  they  can  be  affected  by 
argument  or  friendly  monition;  that  the  idea  of  compelling 
belief  hi  particular  doctrines  is  a solecism,  as  absurd  as 
wicked;  and,  so  far  from  condemning  to  the  stake,  or  the 
gibbet,  men  who  pertinaciously  adhere  to  their  conscientious 
opinions  in  contempt  of  personal  interests  and  in  the  face  of 
danger,  we  should  rather  feel  disposed  to  imitate  the  spirit 
of  antiquity  in  raising  altars  and  statues  to  their  memory, 
as  having  displayed  the  highest  efforts  of  human  virtue.  But, 
although  these  truths  are  now  so  obvious  as  rather  to  de- 
serve the  name  of  truisms,  the  world  has  been  slow,  very 


THE  INQUlSTIiON.  191 

slow  in  arriving  at  them,  after  many  centuries  of  unspeak- 
able oppression  and  misery. 

Acts  of  intolerance  are  to  be  discerned  from  the  earliest 
period  in  which  Christianity  became  the  established  religion 
of  the  Roman  empire.  But  they  do  not  seem  to  have  flowed 
from  any  systematized  plan  of  persecution,  until  the  papal 
authority  had  swollen  to  a considerable  height.  The  popes, 
who  claimed  the  spiritual  allegiance  of  all  Christendom,  re- 
garded heresy  as  treason  against  themselves,  and,  as  such, 
deserving  all  the  penalties,  which  sovereigns  have  uniformly 
visited  on  this,  in  their  eyes,  unpardonable  offence.  The 
crusades,  which,  in  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
swept  so  fiercely  over  the  southern  provinces  of  France, 
exterminating  their  inhabitants,  and  blasting  the  fair  buds  of 
civilization  which  had  put  forth  after  the  long  feudal  winter, 
opened  the  way  to  the  inquisition;  and  it  was  on  the  ruins  of 
this  once  happy  land,  that  were  first  erected  the  bloody  altars 
of  that  tribunal.1 

After  various  modifications,  the  province  of  detecting  and 
punishing  heresy  was  exclusively  committed  to  the  hands  of 
the  Dominican  friars;  and  in  1233,  in  the  reign  of  St  Louis, 
and  under  the  pontificate  of  Gregory  the  Ninth,  a code  for 
the  regulation  of  their  proceedings  was  finally  digested.  The 
tribunal,  after  having  been  successively  adopted  in  Italy  and 
Germany,  was  introduced  into  Aragon,  where,  in  1242,  ad- 
ditional provisions  were  framed  by  the  council  of  Tarragona, 
on  the  basis  of  those  of  1233,  which  may  properly  be  consid- 
ered as  the  primitive  instructions  of  the  Holy  Office  in  Spain.3 

This  Ancient  Inquisition,  as  it  is  termed,  bore  the  same 
odious  peculiarities  in  its  leading  features  as  the  Modern; 
the  same  impenetrable  secrecy  in  its  proceedings,  the  same 
insidious  modes  of  accusation,  a similar  use  of  torture,  and 
similar  penalties  for  the  offender.  A sort  of  manual,  drawn 
up  by  Eymerich,  an  Aragonese  inquisitor  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  for  the  instruction  of  the  judges  of  the  Holy  Office, 
prescribes  all  those  ambiguous  forms  of  interrogation,  bv 
which  the  unwary,  and  perhaps  innocent  victim  might  be 
circumvented.3  The  principles,  on  which  the  ancient  Inqui- 
sition was  established,  are  no  less  repugnant  to  justice,  than 
those  which  regulated  the  modern;  although  the  former,  it  is 
true,  was  much  less  extensive  in  its  operation.  The  arm  of 
persecution,  however,  fell  with  sufficient  heaviness,  especially 
during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  on  the  unfor- 
tunate Albigenses,  who  from  the  proximity  and  political  rela- 
tions of  Aragon  and  Provence,  had  become  numerous  in  the 


192 


THE  INQUISITION. 


former  kingdom.  The  persecution  appears,  however,  to  have 
been  chiefly  confined  to  this  unfortunate  sect,  and  there  is  no 
evidence  that  the  Holy  Office,  notwithstanding  papal  briefs 
to  that  effect,  was  fully  organized  in  Castile,  before  the  reign 
of  Isabella.  This  is  perhaps  imputable  to  the  paucity  of 
heretics  in  that  kingdom.  It  cannot,  at  any  rate,  be  charged 
to  any  lukewarmness  in  its  sovereigns;  since  they,  from  the 
time  of  St.  Ferdinand,  who  heaped  the  fagots  on  the  blazing 
pile  with  his  own  hands,  down  to  that  of  John  the  Second, 
Isabella’s  father,  who  hunted  the  unhappy  heretics  of  Biscay, 
like  so  many  wild  beasts,  among  the  mountains,  had  ever 
evinced  a lively  zeal  for  the  orthodox  faith.4 

By  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Albigensian 
heresy  had  become  nearly  extirpated  by  the  Inquisition  of 
Aragon;  so  that  this  infernal  engine  might  have  been  suffered 
to  sleep  undisturbed  from  want  of  sufficient  fuel  to  keep  it 
in  motion,  when  new  and  ample  materials  were  discovered  in 
the  unfortunate  race  of  Israel,  on  whom  the  sins  of  their 
fathers  have  been  so  unspairingly  visited  by  every  nation  in 
Christendom,  among  whom  they  have  sojourned,  almost  to 
the  present  century.  As  this  remarkable  people,  who  seem 
to  have  preserved  their  unity  of  character  unbroken,  amid 
the  thousand  fragments  in  which  they  have  been  scattered, 
attained  perhaps  to  greater  consideration  in  Spain  than  in  any 
other  part  of  Europe,  and  as  the  efforts  of  the  Inquisition  were 
directed  principally  against  them  during  the  present  reign,  it 
may  be  well  to  take  a brief  review  of  their  preceding  history 
in  the  Peninsula. 

Under  the  Visigothic  empire  the  Jews  multiplied  exceed- 
ingly in  the  country,  and  were  permitted  to  acquire  consider- 
able power  and  wealth.  But  no  sooner  had  their  Arian 
masters  embraced  the  orthodox  faith,  than  they  began  to 
testify  their  zeal  by  pouring  on  the  Jews  the  most  pitiless 
storm  of  persecution.  One  of  their  laws  alone  condemned 
the  whole  race  to  slavery;  and  Montesquieu  remarks,  without 
much  exaggeration,  that  to  the  Gothic  code  may  be  traced 
all  the  maxims  of  the  modern  Inquisition,  the  monks  of  the 
fifteenth  century  only  copying,  in  reference  to  the  Israelites, 
the  bishops  of  the  seventh.5 

After  the  Saracenic  invasion,  which  the  Jews,  perhaps  with 
reason,  are  accused  of  having  facilitated,  they  resided  in  the 
conquered  cities,  and  were  permitted  to  mingle  with  the  Arabs 
on  nearly  equal  terms.  Their  common  Oriental  origin  pro- 
duced a similarity  of  tastes,  to  a certain  extent,  not  unfavor- 
able to  such  a coalition.  At  any  rate,  the  early  Spanish 


PRISON  OF  THE  INQUISITION,  BARCELONA. 


THE  INQUISITION. 


193 


Arabs  were  characterized  by  a spirit  of  toleration  towards 
both  Jews  and  Christians,  “the  people  of  the  book,”  as  they 
were  called,  which  has  scarcely  been  found  among  later 
Moslems.6  The  Jews,  accordingly,  under  these  favorable 
auspices,  not  only  accumulated  wealth  with  their  usual  dili- 
gence, but  gradually  rose  to  the  highest  civil  dignities,  and 
made  great  advances  in  various  departments  of  letters.  The 
schools  of  Cordova,  Toledo,  Barcelona,  and  Granada  were 
crowded  with  numerous  disciples,  who  emulated  the  Arabians 
in  keeping  alive  the  flame  of  learning,  during  the  deep  dark- 
ness of  the  middle  ages.7  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  their 
success  in  speculative  philosophy,8  they  cannot  reasonably 
be  denied  to  have  contributed  largely  to  practical  and  ex- 
perimental science.  They  were  diligent  travellers  in  all  parts 
of  the  known  world,  compiling  itineraries  which  have  proved 
of  extensive  use  in  later  times,  and  bringing  home  hoards  of 
foreign  specimens  and  Oriental  drugs,  that  furnished  impor- 
tant contributions  to  the  domestic  pharmacopoeias.9  In  the 
practice  of  medicine,  indeed,  they  became  so  expert,  as  in  a 
manner  to  monopolize  that  profession.  They  made  great 
proficiency  in  mathematics  and  particularly  in  astronomy; 
while,  in  the  cultivation  of  elegant  letters,  they  revived  the 
ancient  glories  of  the  Hebrew  muse.10  This  was  indeed  the 
golden  age  of  modern  Jewish  literature,  which,  under  the 
Spanish  caliphs,  experienced  a protection  so  benign,  although 
occasionally  chequered  by  the  caprices  of  despotism,  that  it 
was  enabled  to  attain  higher  beauty  and  a more  perfect  de- 
velopement  in  the  tenth,  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth 
centuries,  than  it  has  reached  in  any  other  part  of  Christen- 
dom.11 

The  ancient  Castilians  of  the  same  period,  very  different 
from  their  Gothic  ancestors,  seem  to  have  conceded  to  the 
Israelites  somewhat  of  the  feelings  of  respect,  which  were 
extorted  from  them  by  the  superior  civilization  of  the  Span- 
ish Arabs.  We  find  eminent  Jews  residing  in  the  courts  of 
the  Christian  princes,  directing  their  studies,  attending  them 
as  physicians,  or  more  frequently  administering  their  finances. 
For  this  last  vocation  they  seem  to  have  had  a natural  apti- 
tude; and,  indeed,  the  correspondence  which  they  main- 
tained with  the  different  countries  of  Europe  by  means  of 
their  own  countrymen,  who  acted  as  the  brokers  of  almost 
every  people  among  whom  they  were  scattered  during  the 
middle  ages,  afforded  them  peculiar  facilities  both  in  politics 
and  commerce.  We  meet  with  Jewish  scholars  and  states- 
men attached  to  the  courts  of  Alfonso  the  Tenth,  Alfonso 
Vol.  I.—  0. 


194 


THE  INQUISITION. 


the  Eleventh,  Peter  the  Cruel,  Henry  the  Second,  and  other 
princes.  Their  astronomical  science  recommended  them  in 
a special  manner  to  Alfonso  the  Wise,  who  employed  them 
in  the  construction  of  his  celebrated  Tables.  James  the 
First  of  Aragon  condescended  to  receive  instruction  from 
them  in  ethics;  and,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  we  notice  John 
the  Second,  of  Castile,  employing  a Jewish  secretary  in  the 
compilation  of  a national  Cancionero.12 

But  all  this  royal  patronage  proved  incompetent  to  protect 
the  Jews,  when  their  flourishing  fortunes  had  risen  to  a 
sufficient  height  to  excite  popular  envy,  augmented,  as  it 
was,  by  that  profuse  ostentation  of  equipage  and  apparel,  for 
which  this  singular  people,  notwithstanding  their  avarice, 
have  usually  shown  a predilection.13  Stories  were  circulated 
of  their  contempt  for  the  Catholic  worship,  their  desecration 
of  its  most  holy  symbols,  and  of  their  crucifixion,  or  other 
sacrifice,  of  Christian  children,  at  the  celebration  of  their 
own  passover.14  With  these  foolish  calumnies,  the  more 
probable  charge  of  usury  and  extortion  was  industriously 
preferred  against  them,  till  at  length,  toward  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  the  fanatical  populace,  stimulated  in 
many  instances  by  the  no  less  fanatical  clergy,  and  perhaps 
encouraged  by  the  numerous  class  of  debtors  to  the  Jews, 
who  found  this  a convenient  mode  of  settling  their  accounts, 
made  a fierce  assault  on  this  unfortunate  people  in  Castile 
and  Aragon,  breaking  into  their  houses,  violating  their  most 
private  sanctuaries,  scattering  their  costly  collections  and 
furniture,  and  consigning  the  wretched  proprietors  to  indis- 
criminate massacre,  without  regard  to  sex  or  age.15 

In  this  crisis,  the  only  remedy  left  to  the  Jews  was  a real 
or  feigned  conversion  to  Christianity.  St.  Vincent  Ferrier, 
a Dominican  of  Valencia,  performed  such  a quantity  of 
miracles,  in  furtherance  of  this  purpose,  as  might  have  ex- 
cited the  envy  of  any  saint  in  the  Calendar;  and  these,  aided 
by  his  eloquence,  are  said  to  have  changed  the  hearts  of  no 
less  than  thirty-five  thousand  of  the  race  of  Israel,  which 
doubtless  must  be  reckoned  the  greatest  miracle  of  all.16 
+ The  legislative  enactments  of  this  period,  and  still  more 
binder  John  the  Second,  during  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  were  uncommonly  severe  upon  the  Jews.  While 
they  were  prohibited  from  mingling  freely  with  the  Christians, 
and  from  exercising  the  professions  for  which  they  were  best 
qualified,17  their  residence  was  restricted  within  certain  pre- 
scribed limits  of  the  cities  which  they  inhabited;  and  they 
were  not  only  debarred  from  their  usual  luxury  of  ornament  in 


THE  INQUISITION. 


*95 


dress,  but  were  held  up  to  public  scorn,  as  it  were,  by  some 
peculiar  badge  or  emblem  embroidered  on  their  garments.18 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  Spanish  Jews  at  the  acces- 
sion of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  The  new  Christians , or 
converts , as  those  who  had  renounced  the  faith  of  their 
fathers  were  denominated,  were  occasionally  preferred  to 
high  ecclesiastical  dignities,  which  they  illustrated  by  their 
integrity  and  learning.  They  were  intrusted  with  municipal 
offices  in  the  various  cities  of  Castile;  and,  as  their  wealth 
furnished  an  obvious  resource  for  repairing,  by  way  of  mar- 
riage, the  decayed  fortunes  of  the  nobility,  there  was  scarcely 
a family  of  rank  in  the  land,  whose  blood  had  not  been  con- 
taminated at  some  period  or  other,  by  mixture  with  the  mala 
sangre , as  it  came  afterward  to  be  termed,  of  the  house  of 
Judah;  an  ignominious  stain,  which  no  time  has  been  deemed 
sufficient  wholly  to  purge  away.19 

Notwithstanding  the  show  of  prosperity  enjoyed  by  the 
converted  Jews,  their  situation  was  far  from  secure.  Their 
proselytism  had  been  too  sudden  to  be  generally  sincere; 
and,  as  the  task  of  dissimulation  was  too  irksome  to  be  per- 
manently endured,  they  gradually  became  less  circumspect, 
and  exhibited  the  scandalous  spectacle  of  apostates  returning 
to  wallow  in  the  ancient  mire  of  Judaism.  The  clergy, 
especially  the  Dominicans,  who  seem  to  have  inherited  the 
quick  scent  for  heresy  which  distinguished  their  frantic 
founder,  were  not  slow  in  sounding  the  alarm;  and  the  super- 
stitious populace,  easily  roused  to  acts  of  violence  in  the 
name  of  religion,  began  to  exhibit  the  most  tumultuous  move- 
ments, and  actually  massacred  the  constable  of  Castile  in  a 
attempt  to  suppress  them  at  Jaen,  the  year  preceding  the 
accession  of  Isabella.  After  this  period,  the  complaints 
against  the  Jewish  heresy  became  still  more  clamorous,  and 
the  throne  was  repeatedly  beset  with  petitions  to  devise  some 
effectual  means  for  its  extirpation.20 

A chapter  of  the  Chronicle  of  the  Curate  of  Los  Palacios, 
who  lived  at  this  time  in  Andalusia,  where  the  Jews  seem 
to  have  most  abounded,  throws  considerable  light  on  the 
real,  as  well  as  pretended  motives  of  the  subsequent  persecu- 
tion. “This  accursed  race,”  he  says,  speaking  of  the  Israel- 
ites, “were  either  unwilling  to  bring  their  children  to  be  bap- 
tized, or,  if  they  did,  they  washed  away  the  stain  on  returning 
home.  They  dressed  their  stews  and  other  dishes  with  oil, 
instead  of  lard;  abstained  from  pork;  kept  the  passover; 
ate  meat  in  lent;  and  sent  oil  to  replenish  the  lamps  of  their 
synagogues;  with  many  other  abominable  ceremonies  of 


196 


THE  INQUISITION. 


their  religion.  They  entertained  no  respect  for  monastic 
life,  and  frequently  profaned  the  sanctity  of  religious  houses 
by  the  violation  or  seduction  of  their  inmates.  They  were 
an  exceedingly  politic  and  ambitious  people,  engrossing  the 
most  lucrative  municipal  offices;  and  preferred  to  gain  their 
livelihood  by  traffic,  in  which  they  made  exorbitant  gains, 
rather  than  oy  manual  labor  or  mechanical  arts.  They  con- 
sidered themselves  in  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians,  whom  it 
was  a merit  to  deceive  and  plunder.  By  their  wicked  con- 
trivances they  amassed  great  wealth,  and  thus  were  often 
able  to  ally  themselves  by  marriage  with  noble  Christian 
families.  ” 21 

It  is  easy  to  discern,  in  this  medley  of  credulity  and  super- 
stition, the  se<^ret^envy,  entertained  by  the  Castilians,  of  the 
superior  skill  and  "Industry  of  their  Hebrew  brethren,  and  of 
the  superior  riches  which  these  qualities  secured  to  them; 
and  it  is  impossible  not  to  suspect,  that  the  zeal  of  the  most 
orthodox  was  considerably  sharpened  by  worldly  motives. 

/ Be  that  as  it  may,  the  cry  against  the  Jewish  abominations 
now  became  general.  Among  those  most  active  in  raising 
it,  were  Alfonso  de  Ojeda,  a Dominican,  prior  of  the  mon- 
astery of  St.  Paul  in  Seville,  and  Diego  de  Merlo,  assistant 
of  that  city,  who  should  not  be  defrauded  of  the  meed  of 
glory  to  which  they  are  justly  entitled  by  their  exertions  for 
the  establishment  of  the  modern  Inquisitiorv  These  per- 
sons, after  urging  on  the  sovereigns  the  alarming  extent  to 
which  the  Jewish  leprosy  prevailed  in  Andalusia,  loudly 
called  for  the  introduction  of  the  Holy  Office,  as  the  only 
effectual  means  of  healing  it.  In  this  they  were  vigorously 
supported  by  Niccolo  Franco,  the  papal  nuncio  then  resid- 
ing at  the  court  of  Castile.  Ferdinand  listened  with  com- 
placency to  a scheme,  which  promised  an  ample  source  of 
revenue  in  the  confiscations  it  involved. /But  it  was  not  so 
easy  to  vanquish  Isabella’s  aversion  to  measures  so  repug- 
nant to  the  natural  benevolence  and  magnanimity  of  her 
character.  Her  scruples,  indeed,  were  rather  founded  on 
sentiment  than  reason,  the  exercise  of  which  was  little  coun- 
tenanced in  matters  of  faith,  in  that  day,  when  the  danger- 
ous maxim,  that  the  end  justifies  the  means,  was  universally 
received,  and  learned  theologians  seriously  disputed  whether 
it  were  permitted  to  make  peace  with  the  infidel,  and  even 
whether  promises  made  to  them  were  obligatory  on  Chris- 
tians.22 

The  policy  of  the  Roman  church,  at  that  time,  was  not 
only  shown  in  its  perversion  of  some  of  the  most  obvious 


THE  INQUISITION. 


197 


principles  of  morality,  but  in  the  discouragement  of  all  free 
inquiry  in  its  disciples,  whom  it  instructed  to  rely  implicitly 
in  matters  of  conscience  on  their  spiritual  advisers.  The 
artful  institution  of  the  tribunal  of  confession,  established 
with  this  view,  brought,  as  it  were,  the  whole  Christian  world 
at  the  feet  of  the  clergy,  who,  far  from  being  always  animated 
by  the  meek  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  almost  justified  the  re- 
proach of  Voltaire,  that  confessors  have  been  the  source  of 
most  of  the  violent  measures  pursued  by  princes  of  the 
Catholic  faith.23 


/^Isabella’s  serious  temper,  as  well  as  early  education, 
' naturally  disposed  her  to  religious  influences.  Notwith- 


standing the  independence  exhibited  by  her  in  all  secular 
affairs,  in  her  own  spiritual  concerns  she  uniformly  testified 
the  deepest  humility,  and  deferred  too  implicitly  to  what  she 
deemed  the  superior  sagacrty,“br  sanctity,  of  her  ghostly 
counsellors.  An  instance  of  this  humility  may  be  worth  re- 
cording. When  Fray  Fernando  de  Talavera,  afterwards 
archbishop  of  Granada,  who  had  been  appointed  confessor 
to  the  queen,  attended  her  for  the  first  time  in  that  capacity, 
he  continued  seated,  after  she  had  knelt  down  to  make  her 
confession,  which  drew  from  her  the  remark,  4 ‘that  it  was 
usual  for  both  parties  to  kneel.”  “No,”  replied  the  priest, 
“this  is  God’s  tribunal;  I act  here  as  his  minister,  and  it  is 
fitting  that  I should  keep  my  seat,  while  your  Highness 
kneels  before  me.”  Isabella,  far  from  taking  umbrage  at  the 
ecclesiastic’s  arrogant  demeanor,  complied  with  all  humility, 
and  was  afterward  heard  to  say,  “This  is  the  confessor  that 
I wanted.”  24 

Well  had  it  been  for  the  land,  if  the  queen’s  conscience 
had  always  been  intrusted  to  the  keeping  of  persons  of  such 
exemplary  piety  as  Talavera.  Unfortunately,  in  her  early 
days,  during  the  lifetime  of  her  brother  Henry,  that  charge 
was  committed  to  a Dominican  monk,  Thomas  de  Torcpie- 
mada,  a native  of  old  Gastile,  subsequently  raised  to  the  rank 
of  Santa  Cruz  in  Segovia,  and  condemned  to  infamous  im- 
mortality by  the  signal  part  which  he  performed  in  the  tra- 
gedy of  the  Inquisition.  This  man,  who  concealed  more 
pride  under  his  monastic  weeds  than  might  have  furnished 
forth  a convent  of  his  order,  was  one  of  that  class,  with 
whom  zeal  passes  for  religion,  and  who  testify  their  zeal  by 
a fiery  persecution  of  those  whose  creed  differs  from  their 
own;  who  compensate  for  their  abstinence  from  sensual  in- 
dulgence, by  giving  scope  to  those  deadlier  vices  of  the 
heart,  pride,  bigotry,  and  intolerance,  which  are  no  less  op* 


THE  INQUISITION. 


198 

posed  to  virtue,  and  are  far  more  extensively  mischievous  to 
society.  This  personage  had  earnestly  labored  to  infuse  into 
Isabella’s  young  mind,  to  which  his  situation  as  her  confessor 
gave  him  such  ready  access,  the  same  spirit  of  fanaticism 
that  glowed  in  his  own.  Fortunately  this  was  greatly  coun- 
teracted by  her  sound  understanding  and  natural  kindness  of 
heart.  Torquemada  urged  her,  or  indeed,  as  is  stated  by 
some,  extorted  a promise,  that,  “should  she  ever  come  to 
the  throne,  she  would  devote  herself  to  the  extirpation  of 
heresy,  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  exaltation  of  the  Catho- 
lic faith.’’25  The  time  was  now  arrived  when  this  fatal 
promise  was  to  be  discharged. 

It  is  due  to  Isabella’s  fame  to  state  thus  much  in  palliation 
of  the  unfortunate  error  into  which  she  was  led  by  her  mis- 
guided zeal;  an  error  so  grave,  that,  like  a vein  in  some 
noble  piece  of  statuary,  it  gives  a sinister  expression  to  her 
otherwise  unblemished  character.26  It  was  not  until  the 
queen  had  endured  the  repeated  importunities  of  the  clergy, 
particularly  of  those  reverend  persons  in  whom  she  most 
confided,  seconded  by  the  arguments  of  Ferdinand,  that  she 
consented  to  solicit  from  the  pope  a bull  for  the  introduction 
of  the  Holy  Office  into  Castile.  Sixtus  the  Fourth,  who  at 
that  time  filled  the  pontifical  chair,  easily  discerning  the 
sources  of  wealth  and  influence,  which  this  measure  opened 
to  the  court  of  Rome,  readily  complied  with  the  petition  of 
the  sovereigns,  and  expedited  a bull  bearing  date  November 
1st,  1478,  authorizing  them  to  appoint  two  or  three  eccle- 
siastics, inquisitors  for  the  detection  and  suppression  of 
heresy  throughout  their  dominions.27 

The  queen,  however,  still  averse  to  violent  measures,  sus- 
pended the  operation  of  the  ordinance,  until  a more  lenient 
policy  had  been  first  tried.  By  her  command,  accordingly, 
the  archbishop  of  Seville,  cardinal  Mendoza,  drew  up  a cate- 
chism exhibiting  the  different  points  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  instructed  the  clergy  throughout  his  diocese  to  spare  no 
pains  in  illuminating  the  benighted  Israelites,  by  means  of 
friendly  exhortation  and  a candid  exposition  of  the  true 
principles  of  Christianity.28  How  far  the  spirit  of  these  in- 
junctions was  complied  with,  amid  the  excitement  then  pre- 
vailing, may  be  reasonably  doubted.  There  could  be  little 
doubt,  however,  that  a report,  made  two  years  later,  by  a 
commission  of  ecclesiastics  with  Alfonso  de  Ojeda  at  its  head, 
respecting  the  progress  of  the  reformation,  would  be  neces- 
sarily unfavorable  to  the  Jews.29  In  consequence  of  this 
report  the  papal  provisions  were  enforced  by  the  nomination, 


THE  INQUISITION. 


T99 


on  the  17th  of  September,  1480,  of  two  Dominican  monks  as 
inquisitors,  with  two  other  ecclesiastics,  the  one  as  assessor, 
and  the  other  as  procurator  fiscal,  with  instructions  to  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  Seville,  and  enter  on  the  duties  of  their  office. 
Orders  were  also  issued  to  the  authorities  of  the  city  to  sup- 
port the  inquisitors  by  all  the  aid  in  their  power.  But  the 
new  institution,  which  has  since  become  the  miserable  boast 
of  the  Castilians,  proved  so  distasteful  to  them  in  its  origin, 
that  they  refused  any  cooperation  with  its  ministers,  and  in- 
deed opposed  such  delays  and  embarrassments,  that,  during 
the  first  years,  it  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  obtained  a foot- 
ing in  any  other  places  in  Andalusia,  than  those  belonging 
to  the  crown.30 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1481,  the  court  commenced  opera- 
tions by  the  publication  of  an  edict,  followed  by  several 
others,  requiring  all  persons  to  aid  in  apprehending  and  ac- 
cusing all  such  as  they  might  know,  or  suspect  to  be  guilty 
of  heresy,31  and  holding  out  the  illusory  promise  of  absolu- 
tion to  such  as  should  confess  their  errors  within  a limited 
period.  As  every  mode  of  accusation,  even  anonymous,  was 
invited,  the  number  of  victims  multiplied  so  fast,  that  the 
tribunal  found  it  convenient  to  remove  its  sittings  from  the 
convent  of  St.  Paul,  within  the  city,  to  the  spacious  fortress 
of  Triana,  in  the  subuios.32 

The  presumptive  proofs,  by  which  the  charge  of  Judaism 
was  established  against  the  accused  are  so  curious,  that  a few 
of  them  may  deserve  notice.  It  was  considered  good  evi- 
dence of  the  fact,  if  the  prisoner  wore  better  clothes  or  cleaner 
linen  on  the  Jewish  sabbath  than  on  other  days  of  the  week; 
if  he  had  no  fire  in  his  house  the  preceding  evening;  if  he 
sat  at  table  with  Jews,  or  ate  the  meat  of  animals  slaughtered 
by  their  hands,  or  drank  a certain  beverage  held  in  much 
estimation  by  them;  if  he  washed  a corpse  in  warm  water, 
or  when  dying  turned  his  face  to  the  wall;  or,  finally,  if  he 
gave  Hebrew  names  to  his  children;  a provision  most  whim- 
sically cruel,  since,  by  a law  of  Henry  the  Second,  he  was 
prohibited  under  severe  penalties  from  giving  them  Chris- 
tian names.  He  must  have  found  it  difficult  to  extricate 
himself  from  the  horns  of  this  dilemma.33  Such  are  a few  of 
the  circumstances,  some  of  them  purely  accidental  in  their 
nature,  others  the  result  of  early  habit,  which  might  well 
have  continued  after  a sincere  conversion  to  Christianity,  and 
all  of  them  trivial,  on  which  capital  accusations  were  to  be 
alleged,  and  even  satisfactorily  established.34 

The  inquisitors,  adopting  the  wily  and  tortuous  policy  of 


200 


THE  INQUISITION. 


the  ancient  tribunal,  proceeded  with  a despatch  which  shows 
that  they  could  have  paid  little  deference  even  to  this  affec- 
tation of  legal  form.  On  the  sixth  day  of  January,  six  con- 
victs suffered  at  the  stake.  Seventeen  more  were  executed 
in  March,  and  a still  greater  number  in  the  month  following; 
and  by  the  4th  of  November  in  the  same  year,  no  less  than 
two  hundred  and  ninety-eight  individuals  had  been  sacrificed 
in  the  autos  da  fe  of  Seville.  Besides  these,  the  mouldering 
remains  of  many,  who  had  been  tried  and  convicted  after 
their  death,  were  torn  up  from  their  graves,  with  a hyena- 
like ferocity,  which  has  disgraced  no  other  court.  Christian 
or  Pagan,  and  condemned  to  the  common  funeral  pile.  This 
was  prepared  on  a spacious  stone  scaffold,  erected  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  city,  with  the  statues  of  four  prophets  attached 
to  the  corners,  to  which  the  unhappy  sufferers  were  bound 
for  the  sacrifice,  and  which  the  worthy  Curate  of  Los  Pala- 
cios celebrates  with  much  complacency  as  the  spot,  “where 
heretics  were  burnt,  and  ought  to  burn  as  long  as  any  can  be 
found.”  85 

£ Many  of  the  convicts  were  persons  estimable  for  learning 
and  probity;  and,  among  these,  three  clergymen  are  named, 
together  with  other  individuals  filling  judicial  or  high  muni- 
cipal stations.  The  sword  of  justice  was  observed,  in  par- 
ticular, to  strike  at  the  wealthy,  the  least  pardonable  offend- 
ers in  times  of  proscription. 

The  plague  which  desolated  Seville  this  year,  sweeping  off 
fifteen  thousand  inhabitants,  as  if  in  token  of  the  wrath  of 
Heaven  at  these  enormities,  did  not  palsy  for  a moment  the 
arm  of  the  Inquisition,  which,  adjourning  to  Aracena,  con- 
tinued as  indefatigable  as  before  A similar  persecution 
went  forward  in  other  parts  of  the  province  of  Andalusia;  so 
that  within  the  same  year,  1481,  the  number  of  the  sufferers 
was  computed  at  two  thousand  burnt  alive,  a still  greater 
number  in  effigy,  and  seventeen  thousand  reconciled;  a term 
which  must  not  be  understood  by  the  reader  to  signify  any 
thing  like  a pardon  or  amnesty,  but  only  the  commutation 
of  a capital  sentence  for  inferior  penalties,  as  fines,  civil 
incapacity,  very  generally  total  confiscation  of  property,  and 
not  unfrequently  imprisonment  for  life.36 
^The  Jews  were  astounded  by  the  bolt,  which  had  fallen 
so  unexpectedly  upon  them.  Some  succeeded  in  making 
their  escape  to  Granada,  others  to  France,  Germany,  or 
Italy,  where  they  appealed  from  the  decisions  of  the  Holy 
Office  to  the  sovereign  pontiff.37  Sixtus  the  Fourth  appears 
for  a moment  to  have  been  touched  with  something  like 


THE  INQUISITION. 


201 


compunction;  for  he  rebuked  the  intemperate  zeal  of  the 
inquisitors,  and  even  menaced  them  with  deprivation.  But 
these  feelings,  it  would  seem,  were  but  transient;  for,  in 
1483,  we  find  the  same  pontiff  quieting  the  scruples  of  Isa- 
bella respecting  the  appropriation  of  the  confiscated  pro- 
perty, and  encouraging  both  sovereigns  to  proceed  in  the 
great  work  of  purification,  by  an  audacious  reference  to  the 
example  for  Jesus  Christ,  who,  says  he,  consolidated  his 
kingdom  on  earth  by  the  destruction  of  idolatry;  and  he 
concludes  with  imputing  their  successes  in  the  Moorish  war, 
upon  which  they  had  then  entered,  to  their  zeal  for  the 
faith,  and  promising  them  the  like  in  future.  In  the  course 
of  the  same  year,  he  expedited  two  briefs,  appointing 
Thomas  de  Torquemada  inquisitor-general  of  Castile  and 
ABTgcmT^^  him  with  full  powers  to  frame  a new 


\ 


/ constitution  for  the  Holy  Office.  This  was  the  origin  of 
\ that  terrible  tribunal,  the  Spanish  or  Modern  Inquisition, 
) familiar  to  most  readers,  whether  of  history  or  romance; 
/ which,  for  three  centuries,  has  extended  its  iron  sway  over 
I the  dominions  of  Spain  and  Portugal.38  Without  going  into 
details  respecting  the  organization  of  its  various  courts, 
which  gradually  swelled  to  thirteen  during  the  present  reign, 
I shall  endeavor  to  exhibit  the  principles  which  regulated 
^heir  proceedings,  as  deduced  in  part  from  the  code  digested 
onder  Torquemada,  and  partly  from  the  practice  which 
obtained  during  his  spremacy.39 

Edicts  were  ordered  to  be  published  annually,  on  the  first 
two  Sundays  in  lent,  throughout  the  churches,  enjoining  it 
as  a sacred  duty  on  all,  who  knew  or  suspected  another  to 
/be  guilty  of  heresy,  to  lodge  information  against  him  before 
the  Holy  Office;  and  the  ministers  of  religion  were  instructed 
to  refuse  absolution  to  such  as  hesitated  to  comply  with  this, 
although  the  suspected  person  might  stand  in  the  relation 
of  parent,  child,  husband,  or  wife.  All  accusations,  anony- 
mous as  well  as  signed,  were  admitted;  it  being  only  neces- 
sary to  specify  the  names  of  the  witnesses,  whose  testimony 
was  taken  down  in  writing  by  a secretary,  and  afterward  read 
to  them,  which,  unless  the  inaccuracies  were  so  gross  as  to 
force  themselves  upon  their  attention,  they  seldom  failed  to 
confirm.40 

— ''The  accused,  in  the  mean  time,  whose  mysterious  disap- 
pearance was  perhaps  the  only  public  evidence  of  his  arrest, 
was  conveyed  to  the  secret  chambers  of  the  Inquisition, 
^ where  he  was  jealously  excluded  from  intercourse  with  all, 
save  a priest  of  the  Romish  church  and  his  jailer,  both  of 


9* 


202 


THE  INQUISITION. 


whom  might  be  regarded  as  the  spies  of  the  tribunal.  In 
this  desolate  condition,  the  unfortunate  man,  cut  off  from 
external  communication  and  all  cheering  sympathy  or  sup- 
port, was  kept  for  some  time  in  ignorance  even  of  the  nature 
of  the  charges  preferred  against  him,  and  at  length,  instead 
of  the  original  process,  was  favored  only  with  extracts  from 
the  depositions  of  the  witnesses,  so  garbled  as  to  conceal 
every  possible  clue  to  their  name  and  quality.  -With  still 
greater  unfairness,  no  mention  whatever  was  made  of  such 
testimony,  as  had  arisen  in  the  course  of  the  examination, 
in  his  own  favor.  Counsel  was  indeed  allowed  from  a list 
presented  by  his  judges.  But  this  privilege  availed  little, 
since  the  parties  were  not  permitted  to  confer  together,  and 
the  advocate  was  furnished  with  no  other  sources  of  infor- 
mation than  what  had  been  granted  to  his  client.  To  add 
to  the  injustice  of  these  proceedings,  every  discrepancy  in 
the  statements  of  the  witnesses  was  converted  into  a separate 
charge  against  the  prisoner,  who  thus,  instead  of  one  crime, 
stood  accused  of  several.  This,  taken  in  connection  with 
the  concealment  of  time,  place,  and  circumstance  in  the 
accusations,  created  such  embarrassment,  that,  unless  the 
accused  was  possessed  of  unusual  acuteness  and  presence  of 
mind,  it  was  sure  to  involve  him,  in  his  attempts  to  explain, 
in  inextricable  contradiction.41 

If  the  prisoner  refused  to  confess  his  guilt,  or,  as  was 
usual,  was  suspected  of  evasion,  or  an  attempt  to  conceal 
the  truth,  he  was  subjected  to  the  torture.  This,  which 
was  administered  in  the  deepest  vaults  of  the  Inquisition, 
where  the  cries  of  the  victim  could  fall  on  no  ear  save  that 
of  his  tormentors,  is  admitted  by  the  secretary  of  the  Holy 
Office,  who  has  furnished  the  most  authentic  report  of  its 
transactions,  not  to  have  been  exaggerated  in  any  of  the 
numerous  narratives  which  have  dragged  these  subterranean 
horrors  into  light.  If  the  intensity  of  pain  extorted  a con- 
fession from  the  sufferer,  he  was  expected,  if  he  survived, 
which  did  not  always  happen,  to  confirm  it  on  the  next  day. 
Should  he  refuse  to  do  this,  his  mutilated  members  were 
condemned  to  a repetition  of  the  same  sufferings,  until  his 
obstinacy  (it  should  rather  have  been  termed  his  heroism) 
might  be  vanquished.42  Should  the  rack,  however,  prove 
ineffectual  to  force  a confession  of  his  guilt,  he  was  so  far 
from  being  considered  as  having  established  his  innocence, 
that,  with  a barbarity  unknown  to  any  tribunal  where  the 
torture  has  been  admitted,  and  wffiich  of  itself  proves  its 
utter  incompetency  to  the  ends  it  proposes,  he  was  not  unfre- 


THE  INQUISITION. 


203 


quently  convicted  on  the  depositions  of  the  witnesses.  At 
the  conclusion  of  his  mock  trial,  the  prisoner  was  again  re- 
turned to  his  dungeon,  where,  without  the  blaze  of  a single 
fagot  to  dispel  the  cold,  or  illuminate  the  darkness  of  the 
long  winter  night,  he  was  left  in  unbroken  silence  to  await 
the  doom  which  was  to  consign  him  to  an  ignominious  death, 
or  a life  scarcely  less  ignominious.43 

,^The  proceedings  of  the  tribunal,  as  I have  stated  them, 
were  plainly  characterized  throughout  by  the  most  flagrant 
injustice  and  inhumanity  to  the  accused.  Instead  of  pre- 
suming his  innocence,  until  his  guilt  had  been  established, 
it  acted  on  exactly  the  opposite  principle.  Instead  of  afford- 
ing him  the  protection  accorded  by  every  other  judicature, 
and  especially  demanded  in  his  forlorn  situation,  it  used 
the  most  insidious  arts  to  circumvent  and  to  crush  him.  He 
had  no  remedy  against  malice  or  misapprehenison  on  the 
part  of  his  accusers,  or  the  witnesses  against  him,  who  might 
be  his  bitterest  enemies;  since  they  were  never  revealed  to, 
nor  confronted  with  the  prisoner,  nor  subjected  to  a cross- 
examination,  which  can  best  expose  error  or  wilful  collusion 
in  the  evidence.44  Even  the  poor  forms  of  justice,  recognized 
in  this  court,  might  be  readily  dispensed  with;  as  its  proceed- 
ings were  impenetrably  shrouded  from  the  public  eye,  by  the 
appalling  oath  of  secresy  imposed  on  all,  whether  function- 
aries, witnesses,  or  prisoners,  who  entered  within  its  pre- 
cincts. The  last,  and  not  the  least  odious  feature  of  the 
whole,  was  the  connection  established  between  the  condemna- 
tion of  the  accused  and  the  interests  of  his  judges;  since  the 
confiscations,  which  were  the  uniform  penalties  of  heresy,43 
were  not  permitted  to  flow  into  the  royal  exchequer,  until 
they  had  first  discharged  the  expenses,  whether  in  the  shape 
of  salaries  or  otherwise,  incident  to  the  Holy  Office.46 

The  last  scene  in  this  dismal  tragedy  was  the  act  of  faith 
(auto  da  fe),  the  most  imposing  spectacle  probably,  which 
has  been  witnessed  since  the  ancient  Roman  triumph,  and 
which,  as  intimated  by  a Spanish  writer,  was  intended,  some- 
what profanely,  to  represent  the  terrors  of  the  Day  of  Judg- 
ment.47 /The  proudest  grandees  of  the  land,  on  this  occasion, 
putting  on  the  sable  livery  of  familiars  of  the  Holy  Office 
and  bearing  aloft  its  banners,  condescended  to  act  as  the 
escort  of  its  ministers;  while  the  ceremony  was  not  unfre- 
quently  countenanced  by  the  royal  presence.  It  should  be 
stated,  however,  that  neither  of  these  acts  of  condescension, 
or  more  properly,  humiliation,  were  witnessed  until  a period 
posterior  to  the  present  reign.  The  effect  was  further 


204 


THE  INQUISITION. 


heightened  by  the  concourse  of  ecclesiastics  in  their  sacer- 
dotal robes,  and  the  pompous  ceremonial,  which  the  church 
of  Rome  knows  so  well  how  to  display  on  fitting  occasions; 
and  which  was  intended  to  consecrate,  as  it  were,  this  bloody 
sacrifice  by  the  authority  of  a religion  which  has  expressly 
declared  that  it  desires  mercy  and  not  sacrifice.48 

The  most  important  actors  in  the  scene  were  the  unfor- 
tunate convicts,  who  were  now  disgorged  for  the  first  time 
from  the  dungeons  of  the  tribunal.  They  were  clad  in  coarse 
woollen  garments,  styled  san  benitos , brought  close  round  the 
neck  and  descending  like  a frock,  down  to  the  knees.49  These 
were  of  a yellow  color,  embroidered  with  a scarlet  cross,  and 
well  garnished  with  figures  of  devils  and  flames  of  fire,  which, 
typical  of  the  heretic’s  destiny  hereafter,  served  to  make  him 
more  odious  in  the  eyes  of  the  superstitious  multitude.60 
The  greater  part  of  the  sufferers  were  condemned  to  be  re- 
conciled, the  manifold  meanings  of  which  soft  phrase  have 
been  already  explained.  Those  who  were  to  be  relaxed,  as 
it  was  called,  were  delivered  over,  as  impenitent  heretics,  to 
the  secular  arm,  in  order  to  expiate  their  offence  by  the  most 
painful  of  deaths,  with  the  consciousness,  still  more  painful, 
that  they  were  to  leave  behind  them  names  branded  with  in- 
famy, and  families  involved  in  irretrievable  ruin.61 

>It  is  remarkable,  that  a scheme  so  monstrous  as  that  of  the 
/Inquisition,  presenting  the  most  effectual  barrier,  probably, 
that  was  thejprogressjof  knowledge,  should 

have  bee  nr^IveoaTl  h e~clb  s e iTtTf e'fi  f t e e nt  E*  century,  when 
the  light  of  civilization  was  rapidly  advancing  over  every  part 
of  Europe.  It  is  more  remarkable,  that  it  should  have  oc- 
curred in  Spain,  at  this  time  under  a government,  which  had 
displayed  great  religious  independence  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  and  which  had  paid  uniform  regard  to  the  rights 
of  its  subjects,  and  pursued  a generous  policy  in  reference 
to  their  intellectual  culture,  f Where,  we  are  tempted  to  ask, 
when  we  behold  the  persecution  of  an  innocent,  industrious 
people  for  the  crime  of  adhesion  to  the  faith  of  their  ances- 
tors, ^yhere  was_the  charity,  which  led  the  old  Castilian  to 
reverenc(Tv^  in  an  infidel,  though  an  enemy? 

Where  the  chivalrous  self-devotion,  which  led  an  Aragonese 
monarch,  three  centuries  before,  to  give  away  his  life,  in  de- 
fence of  the  persecuted  sectaries  of  Provence?  Where  the 
independent  spirit,  which  prompted  the  Castilian  nobles, 
during  the  very  latest  reign,  to  reject  with  scorn  the  purposed 
interference  of  the  pope  himself  in  their  concerns,  that  they 
were  now  reduced  to  bow  their  necks  to  a few  frantic  priests, 


THE  INQUISITION. 


205 


the  members  of  an  order,  which,  in  Spain  at  least,  was  quite  as 
conspicuous  for  ignorance  as  intolerance?  True  indeed  the 
Castilians,  and  the  Aragonese  subsequently  still  more,  gave 
such  evidence  of  their  aversion  to  the  institution,  that  it  can 
hardly  be  believed  the  clergy  would  have  succeeded  in  fas- 
tening it  upon  them,  had  they  not  availed  themselves  of  the 
popular  prejudices  against  the  Jews.52  Providence,  how- 
ever, permitted  that  the  sufferings,  thus  heaped  on  the  heads 
of  this  unfortunate  people,  should  be  requited  in  full  measure 
to  the  nation  that  inflicted  them.  The  fires  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, which  were  lighted  exclusively  for  the  Jews,  were  des- 
tined eventually  to  consume  their  oppressors.  They  were 
still  more  deeply  avenged  in  the  moral  influence  of  this  tribu- 
nal, which,  eating  like  a pestilent  canker  into  the  heart  of  the 
monarchy,  at  the  very  time  when  it  was  exhibiting  a most 
goodly  promise,  left  it  at  length  a bare  and  sapless  trunk. 

Notwithstanding  the  persecutions  under  Torquemada 
were  confined  almost  wholly  to  the  Jews,  his  activity  was 
such  as  to  furnish  abundant  precedent,  in  regard  to  forms 
of  proceeding,  for  his  successors;  if,  indeed,  the  word  forms 
may  be  applied  to  the  conduct  of  trials  so  summary,  that  the 
tribunal  of  Toledo  alone,  under  the  superintendence  of  two 
inquisitors,  disposed  of  three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  processes  in  little  more  than  a year.53  The 
number  of  convicts  was  greatly  swelled  by  the  blunders  of 
the  Dominican  monks,  who  acted  as  qualificators,  or  interp- 
reters of  what  constituted  heresy,  and  whose  ignorance  led 
them  frequently  to  condemn  as  heterodox,  propositions  act- 
ually derived  from  the  fathers  of  the  church.  The  prisoners 
for  life,  alone,  became  so  numerous,  that  it  was  necessary 
to  assign  them  their  own  houses  as  the  places  of  their  incar- 
ceration. 

The  data  for  an  accurate  calculation  of  the  number  of  vic- 
tims sacrificed  by  the  Inquisition  during  this  reign  are  not 
very  satisfactory.  From  such  as  exist,  however,  Llorente 
has  been  led  to  the  most  frightful  results.  He  computes^ 
that,  during  the  eighteen  years  of  Torquemada’s  ministry^ 
there  were  no  less  than  10,220  burnt,  6,860  condemned, 
and  burnt  in  effigy  as  absent  or  dead,  and  97,321  reconciled 
by  various  other  penances;  affording  an  average  of  more 
than  6,000  convicted  persons  annually.54  In  this  enormous 
sum  of  human  misery  is  not  included  the  multitude  of  orphans, 
who,  from  the  confiscation  of  their  paternal  inheritance,  were 
turned  over  to  indigence  and  vice.55  Many  of  the  reconciled 
were  afterward  sentenced  as  relapsed;  and  the  Curate  of  Los 


20  6 


\ 

THE  INQUISITION. 


Palacios  expresses  the  charitable  wish,  that  “the  whole  ac- 
cursed race  of  Jews,  male  and  female,  of  twenty  years  of  age 
and  upward,  might  be  purified  with  fire  and  fagot!”  66 
^ The  vast  apparatus  of  the  Inquisition  involved  so  heavy 
an  expenditure,  that  a very  small  sum,  comparatively,  found 
its  way  into  the  exchequer,  to  counterbalance  the  great  de- 
triment resulting  to  the  state  from  the  sacrifice  of  the  most 
active  and  skilful  part  of  its  population.  All  temporal  inter- 
ests, however,  were  held  light  in  comparison  with  the  purga- 
tion of  the  land  from  heresy;  and  such  augmentations  as  the 
revenue  did  receive,  we  are  assured,  were  conscientiously 
devoted  to  pious  purposes,  and  the  Moorish  war!57 

The  Roman  see,  during  all  this  time,  conducting  itself 
with  its  usual  duplicity,  contrived  to  make  a gainful  traffic 
by  the  sale  of  dispensations  from  the  penalties  incurred  by 
such  as  fell  under  the  ban  of  the  Inquisition,  provided  they 
were  rich  enough  to  pay  for  them,  and  afterward  revoking 
them,  at  the  instance  of  the  Castilian  court.  Meanwhile,  the 
odium,  excited  by  the  unsparing  rigor  of  Torquemada,  raised 
up  so  many  accusations  against  him,  that  he  was  thrice  com- 
pelled to  send  an  agent  to  Rome  to  defend  his  cause  before 
the  pontiff;  until,  at  length,  Alexander  the  Sixth,  in  1494, 
moved  by  these  reiterated  complaints,  appointed  four  coad- 
jutors, out  of  a pretended  regard  to  the  infirmities  of  his 
age,  to  share  with  him  the  burdens  of  his  office.58 

This  personage,  who  is  entitled  to  so  high  a rank  among 
those  who  have  been  the  authors  of  unmixed  evil  to  their 
species,  was  permitted  to  reach  a very  old  age,  and  to  die 
quietly  in  his  bed.  Yet  he  lived  in  such  constant  apprehen- 
sion of  assassination,  that  he  is  said  to  have  kept  a reputed 
unicorn’s  horn  always  on  his  table,  which  was  imagined  to 
have  the  power  of  detecting  and  neutralizing  poisons;  while, 
for  the  more  complete  protection  of  his  person,  he  was 
allowed  an  escort  of  fifty  horse  and  two  hundred  foot  in 
his  progresses  through  the  kingdom.59 

This  man’s  zeal  was  of  such  an  extravagant  character, 
that  it  may  almost  shelter  itself  under  the  name  of  insanity. 
His  history  may  be  thought  to  prove,  that,  of  all  human  in- 
firmities, or  rather  vices,  there  is  none  productive  of  more 
extensive  mischief  to  society  than  fanaticism.  The  opposite 
principle  of  atheism,  which  refuses  to  recognize  the  most 
important  sanctions  to  virtue,  does  not  necessarily  imply  any 
destitution  of  just  moral  perceptions,  that  is,  of  a power 
of  discriminating  between  right  and  wrong,  in  its  disciples. 
But  fanaticism  is  so  far  subversive  of  the  most  established 


THR  INQUISITION. 


207 

principles  of  morality,  that,  under  the  dangerous  maxim, 
“For  the  advancement  of  the  faith,  all  means  are  lawful,” 
which  Tasso  has  rightly,  though  perhaps  undesignedly  de- 
rived from  the  spirits  of  hell,60  it  not  only  excuses,  but 
enjoins  the  commission  of  the  most  revolting  crimes,  as  a 
sacred  duty.  The  more  repugnant,  indeed,  such  crimes  may 
be  to  natural  feeling,  or  public  sentiment,  the  greater  their 
merit,  from  the  sacrifice  which  the  commission  of  them 
involves.  Many  a bloody  page  of  history  attests  the  fact, 
that  fanaticism,  armed  with  power,  is  the  sorest  evil  which 
can  befall  a nation. 


Don  Juan  Antonio  Llorente  is  the  only  writer  who  has  succeeded  in 
completely  lifting  the  veil  from  the  dread  mysteries  of  the  Inquisition.  It 
is  obvious  how  very  few  could  be  competent  to  this  task,  since  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Holy  Office  were  shrouded  in  such  impenetrable  secrecy,  that 
even  the  prisoners  who  were  arraigned  before  it,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  their  own  processes.  Even  such  of  its 
functionaries,  as  have  at  different  times  pretended  to  give  its  transactions  to 
the  world,  have  confined  themselves  to  an  historical  outline,  with  meagre 
notices  of  such  parts  of  its  internal  discipline  as  might  be  safely  disclosed 
to  the  public. 

Llorente  was  secretary  to  the  tribunal  of  Madrid  from  1790  to  1792. 
His  official  station  consequently  afforded  him  every  facility  for  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  most  recondite  affairs  of  the  Inquisition;  and,  on  its  suppres- 
sion at  the  close  of  1808,  he  devoted  several  years  to  a careful  investigation 
of  the  registers  of  the  tribunals,  both  of  the  capital  and  the  provinces,  as 
well  as  of  such  other  original  documents  contained  within  their  archives, 
as  had  not  hitherto  been  opened  to  the  light  of  day.  In  the  progress  of  his 
work  he  has  anatomized  the  most  odious  features  of  the  institution  with 
unspairing  severity;  and  his  reflections  are  warmed  with  a generous  and 
enlightened  spirit,  certainly  not  to  have  been  expected  in  an  ex-inquisitor. 
The  arrangement  of  his  immense  mass  of  materials  is  indeed  somewhat 
faulty,  and  the  work  might  be  recast  in  a more  popular  form,  especially  by 
means  of  a copious  retrenchment.  With  all  its  subordinate  defects,  how- 
ever, it  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  being  the  most,  indeed  the  only,  authen- 
tic history  of  the  Modern  Inquisition;  exhibiting  its  minutest  forms  of 
practice,  and  the  insidious  policy,  by  which  they  were  directed,  from  the 
origin  of  the  institution  down  to  its  temporary  abolition.  It  well  deserves 
to  be  studied,  as  the  record  of  the  most  humiliating  triumph  which  fana- 
ticism has  ever  been  able  to  obtain  over  human  reason,  and  that  too,  dur- 
ing the  most  civilized  periods,  and  in  the  most  civilized  portion  of  the 
world.  The  persecutions,  endured  by  the  unfortunate  author  of  the  work, 
prove,  that  the  embers  of  this  fanaticism  may  be  rekindled  too  easily,  even 
in  the  present  century 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


REVIEW  OF  THE  POLITICAL  AND  INTELLECTUAL  CONDITION 
OF  THE  SPANISH  ARABS  PREVIOUS  TO  THE  WAR 
OF  GRANADA. 

Conquest  of  Spain  by  the  Arabs. — Cordovan  Empire. — High  Civilization 
and  Prosperity. — Its  Dismemberment. — Kingdom  of  Granada. — Luxu- 
rious and  Chivalrous  Character. — Literature  of  the  Spanish  Arabs. — 
Progress  in  Science. — Historical  Merits. — Useful  Discoveries. — Poetry 
and  Romance. — Influence  on  the  Spaniards. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  commencement  of  the  famous 
war  of  Granada,  which  terminated  in  the  subversion  of  the 
Arabian  empire  in  Spain,  after  it  had  subsisted  for  nearly 
eight  centuries,  and  with  the  consequent  restoration  to  the 
Castilian  crown  of  the  fairest  portion  of  its  ancient  domain. 
In  order  to  a better  understanding  of  the  character  of  the 
Spanish  Arabs,  or  Moors,  who  exercised  an  important  influ- 
ence on  that  of  their  Christian  neighbors,  the  present  chap- 
ter will  be  devoted  to  a consideration  of  their  previous  history 
in  the  Peninsula,  where  they  probably  reached  a higher 
degree  of  civilization  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.1 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  causes  of  the  bril- 
liant successes  of  Mahometanism  at  its  outset, — the  dexterity 
with  which,  unlike  all  other  religions,  it  was  raised  upon, 
not  against  the  principles  and  prejudices  of  preceding  sects; 
the  military  spirit  and  discipline,  which  it  established  among 
all  classes,  so  that  the  multifarious  nations  who  embraced 
it,  assumed  the  appearance  of  one  vast,  well-ordered  camp;2 
the  union  of  ecclesiastical  with  civil  authority  intrusted  to 
the  caliphs,  which  enabled  them  to  control  opinions,  as  abso- 
lutely as  the  Roman  pontiffs  in  their  most  despotic  hour;3 
or  lastly,  the  peculiar  adaptation  of  the  doctrines  of  Mahomet 
to  the  character  of  the  wild  tribes  among  whom  they  were 
preached.4  It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  these  latter,  within  a 
century  after  the  coming  of  their  apostle,  having  succeeded 
in  establishing  their  religion  over  vast  regions  in  Asia,  and 
on  the  northern  shores  of  Africa,  arrived  before  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar,  which,  though  a temporary,  were  destined  to 
prove  an  ineffectual  bulwark  for  Christendom. 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


209 


The  causes  which  have  been  currently  assigned  for  the 
invasion  and  conquest  of  Spain,  even  by  the  most  credible 
modern  historians,  have  scarcely  any  foundation  in  contemp- 
orary records.  The  true  causes  are  to  be  found  in  the  rich 
spoils  offered  by  the  Gothic  monarchy,  and  in  the  thirst  of 
enterprise  in  the  Saracens,  which  their  long  uninterrupted 
career  of  victory  seems  to  have  sharpened,  rather  than  satis- 
fied.5 The  fatal  battle,  which  terminated  with  the  slaughter 
of  King  Roderic  and  the  flower  of  his  nobility,  was  fought 
in  the  summer  of  711,  on  a plain  washed  by  the  Guadalete 
near  Xerez,  about  two  leagues  distant  from  Cadiz.6  The 
Goths  appear  never  to  have  afterward  rallied  under  one 
head,  but  their  broken  detachments  made  many  a gallant 
stand  in  such  strong  positions  as  were  afforded  throughout 
the  kingdom;  so  that  nearly  three  years  elapsed  before  the 
final  achievement  of  the  conquest.  The  policy  of  the  con- 
querors, after  making  the  requisite  allowance  for  the  evils 
necessarily  attending  such  an  invasion,7  may  be  considered 
liberal.  Such  of  the  Christians,  as  chose,  were  permitted  to 
remain  in  the  conquered  territory  in  undisturbed  possession 
of  their  property.  They  were  allowed  to  worship  in  their 
own  way;  to  be  governed,  within  prescribed  limits,  by  their 
own  laws;  to  fill  certain  civil  offices,  and  serve  in  the  army; 
their  women  were  invited  to  intermarry  with  the  conquerors;8 
and,  in  short,  they  were  condemned  to  no  other  legal  badge 
of  servitude  than  the  payment  of  somewhat  heavier  imposts 
than  those  exacted  from  their  Mahometan  brethren.  It  is 
true  the  Christians  were  occasionally  exposed  to  suffering 
from  the  caprices  of  despotism,  and,  it  may  be  added,  of 
popular  fanaticism.9  But,  on  the  whole,  their  condition  may 
sustain  an  advantageous  comparison  with  that  of  any  Chris- 
tian people  under  the  Mussulman  dominion  of  later  times, 
and  affords  a striking  contrast  with  that  of  our  Saxon  ances- 
tors after  the  Norman  conquest,  which  suggests  an  obvious 
parallel  in  many  of  its  circumstances  to  the  Saracen.10 

After  the  further  progress  of  the  Arabs  in  Europe  had 
been  checked  by  the  memorable  defeat  at  Tours,  their  ener- 
gies, no  longer  allowed  to  expand  in  the  career  of  conquest, 
recoiled  on  themselves,  and  speedily  produced  the  dismem- 
berment of  their  overgrown  empire.  Spain  was  the  first  of 
the  provinces,  which  fell  off.  The  family  of  Omeya,  under 
whom  this  revolution  was  effected,  continued  to  occupy  her 
throne  as  independent  princes,  from  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
to  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century,  a period  which  forms 
the  most  honorable  portion  of  her  Arabian  annals. 


210 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


The  new  government  was  modelled  on  the  eastern  cali- 
phate. Freedom  shows  itself  under  a variety  of  forms; 
while  despotism,  at  least  in  the  institutions  founded  on  the 
Koran,  seems  to  wear  but  one.  The  sovereign  was  the 
depositary  of  all  power,  the  fountain  of  honor,  the  sole 
arbiter  of  life  and  fortune.  He  styled  himself  “Commander 
of  the  Faithful,  ” and,  like  the  caliphs  of  the  east,  assumed 
an  entire  spiritual  as  well  as  temporal  supremacy.  The 
country  was  distributed  into  six  capitnias , or  provinces,  each 
under  the  administration  of  a wali , or  governor,  with  sub- 
ordinate officers,  to  whom  was  intrusted  a more  immediate 
jurisdiction  over  the  principal  cities.  The  immense  author- 
ity and  pretensions  of  these  petty  satraps  became  a fruitful 
source  of  rebellion  in  later  times.  The  caliph  adminstered 
the  government  with  the  advice  of  his  mexuar , or  council 
of  state,  composed  of  his  principal  cadis  and  hagibs , or  sec- 
retaries. The  office  of  prime  minister,  or  chief  hagib,  cor- 
responded, in  the  nature  and  variety  of  its  functions,  with 
that  of  a Turkish  grand  vizier.  The  caliph  reserved  to 
himself  the  right  of  selecting  his  successor  from  among  his 
numerous  progeny;  and  this  adoption  was  immediately  rati- 
fied by  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  heir  apparent  from  the 
principal  officers  of  state.11 

The  princes  of  the  blood,  instead  of  being  condemned, 
as  in  Turkey,  to  waste  their  youth  in  the  seclusion  of  the 
harem,  were  intrusted  to  the  care  of  learned  men,  to  be 
instructed  in  the  duties  befitting  their  station.  They  were 
encouraged  to  visit  the  academies,  which  were  particularly 
celebrated  in  Cordova,  where  they  mingled  in  disputation, 
and  frequently  carried  away  the  prizes  of  poetry  and  elo- 
quence. Their  riper  years  exhibited  such  fruits  as  were  to 
be  expected  from  their  early  education.  The  race  of  the 
Omeyades  need  not  shrink  from  a comparison  with  any  other 
dynasty  of  equal  length  in  modern  Europe.  Many  of  them 
amused  their  leisure  with  poetical  composition,  of  which 
numerous  examples  are  preserved  in  Conde’s  History;  and 
some  left  elaborate  works  of  learning,  which  have  maintained 
a permanent  reputation  with  Arabian  scholars.  Their  long 
reigns,  the  first  ten  of  which  embrace  a period  of  two  cen- 
turies and  a half,  their  peaceful  deaths,  and  unbroken  line 
of  succession  in  the  same  family  for  so  many  years,  show 
that  their  authority  must  have  been  founded  in  the  affec- 
tions of  their  subjects.  Indeed,  they  seem,  with  one  or  two 
exceptions,  to  have  ruled  over  them  with  a truly  patriarchal 
sway;  and,  on  the  event  of  their  deaths,  the  people,  bathed 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


21  I 


in  tears,  are  described  as  accompanying  their  relics  to  the 
tomb,  where  the  ceremony  was  concluded  with  a public 
eulogy  on  the  virtues  of  the  deceased,  by  his  son  and  suc- 
cessor. This  pleasing  moral  picture  affords  a strong  con- 
trast to  the  sanguinary  scenes  which  so  often  attend  the 
transmission  of  the  sceptre  from  one  generation  to  another, 
among  the  nations  of  the  east.12 

The  Spanish  caliphs  supported  a large  military  force,  fre- 
quently keeping  two  or  three  large  armies  in  the  field  at  the 
same  time.  The  flower  of  these  forces  was  a body  guard, 
gradually  raised  to  twelve  thousand  men,  one  third  of  them 
Christians,  superbly  equipped,  and  officered  by  members  of 
the  royal  family.  Their  feuds  with  the  eastern  caliphs  and 
the  Barbary  pirates  required  them  also  to  maintain  a respec- 
table navy,  which  was  fitted  out  from  the  numerous  dock- 
yards, that  lined  the  coast  from  Cadiz  to  Tarragona. 

The  munificence  of  the  Omeyades  was  most  ostentatiously 
displayed  in  their  public  edifices,  palaces,  mosques,  hos- 
pitals, and  in  the  construction  of  commodious  quays, 
fountains,  bridges,  and  aqueducts,  which,  penetrating  the 
sides  of  the  mountains,  or  sweeping  on  lofty  arches  across 
the  valleys,  rivalled  in  their  proportions  the  monuments  of 
ancient  Rome.  These  works,  which  were  scattered  more 
or  less  over  all  the  provinces,  contributed  especially  to  the 
embellishment  of  Cordova,  the  capital  of  the  empire.  The 
delightful  situation  of  this  city  in  the  midst  of  a cultivated 
plain  washed  by  the  waters  of  the  Guadalquivir,  made  it 
very  early  the  favorite  residence  of  the  Arabs,  who  loved  to 
surround  their  houses,  even  in  the  cities,  with  groves  and 
refreshing  fountains,  so  delightful  to  the  imagination  of  a 
wanderer  of  the  desert.13  The  public  squares  and  private 
court-yards  sparkled  with  jets  d' eau,  fed  by  copious  streams 
from  the  Sierra  Morena,  which,  besides  supplying  nine  hun- 
dred public  baths,  were  conducted  into  the  interior  of  the 
edifices,  where  they  diffused  a grateful  coolness  over  the 
sleeping-apartments  of  their  luxurious  inhabitants.11 

Without  adverting  to  that  magnificent  freak  of  the  caliphs, 
the  construction  of  the  palace  of  Azahra,  of  which  not  a 
vestige  now  remains,  we  may  form  a sufficient  notion  of  the 
taste  and  magnificence  of  this  era  from  the  remains  of  the 
far-famed  mosque,  now  the  cathedral  of  Cordova.  This 
building,  which  still  covers  more  ground  than  any  other 
church  in  Christendom,  was  esteemed  the  third  in  sanctity 
by  the  Mahometan  world,  being  inferior  only  to  the  Alaksa 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple  of  Mecca.  Most  of  its  ancient 


212 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


glories  have  indeed  long  since  departed.  The  rich  bronze 
which  embossed  its  gates,  the  myriads  of  lamps  which  illu- 
minated its  aisles,  have  disappeared;  and  its  interior  roof  of 
odoriferous  and  curiously  carved  wood  has  been  cut  up  into 
guitars  and  snuff-boxes.  But  its  thousand  columns  of  varie- 
gated marble  still  remain;  and  its  general  dimensions,  not- 
withstanding some  loose  assertions  to  the  contrary,  seem  to 
be  much  the  same  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  the  Saracens. 
European  critics,  however,  condemn  its  most  elaborate  beau- 
ties as  “heavy  and  barbarous.”  Its  celebrated  portals  are 
pronounced  “diminutive,  and  in  very  bad  taste.”  Its  throng 
of  pillars  gives  it  the  air  of  “a  park  rather  than  a temple,” 
and  the  whole  is  made  still  more  incongruous  by  the  unequal 
length  of  their  shafts,  being  grotesquely  compensated  by  a 
proportionate  variation  of  size  in  their  bases  and  capitals, 
rudely  fashioned  after  the  Corinthian  order.15 

But  if  all  this  gives  us  a contemptible  idea  of  the  taste  of 
the  Saracens  at  this  period,  which  indeed,  in  architecture, 
seems  to  have  been  far  inferior  to  that  of  the  later  princes  of 
Granada,  we  cannot  but  be  astonished  at  the  adequacy  of 
their  resources  to  carry  such  magnificent  designs  into  execu- 
tion. Their  revenue,  we  are  told  in  explanation,  amounted 
to  eight  millions  of  mitcales  of  gold,  or  nearly  six  millions 
sterling;  a sum  fifteen-fold  greater  than  that  which  William 
the  Conqueror,  in  the  subsequent  century,  was  able  to  extort 
from  his  subjects,  with  all  the  ingenuity  of  feudal  exaction. 
The  tone  of  exaggeration,  which  distinguishes  the  Asiatic 
writers,  entitles  them  perhaps  to  little  confidence  in  their 
numerical  estimates.  This  immense  wealth,  however,  is  predi- 
cated of  other  Mahometan  princes  of  that  age;  and  their 
vast  superiority  over  the  Christian  states  of  the  north,  in  arts 
anc}  effective  industry,  may  well  account  for  a correspond- 
ing superiority  in  their  resources. 

The  revenue  of  the  Cordovan  sovereigns  was  derived  from 
the  fifth  of  the  spoil  taken  in  battle,  an  important  item  in 
an  age  of  unintermitting  war  and  rapine;  from  the  enor- 
mous exaction  of  one  tenth  of  the  produce  of  commerce,  hus- 
bandry, flocks,  and  mines;  from  a capitation  tax  on  Jews  and 
Christians;  and  from  certain  tolls  on  the  transportation  of 
goods.  They  engaged  in  commerce  on  their  own  account, 
and  drew  from  mines,  which  belonged  to  the  crown,  a con- 
spicuous part  of  their  income.16 

Before  the  discovery  of  America,  Spain  was  to  the  rest  of 
Europe,  what  her  colonies  have  since  become,  the  great 
source  of  mineral  wealth.  The  Carthaginians,  and  the 


the  GREAT  MOSQUE,  CORDOVA. 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


213 


Romans  afterward,  regularly  drew  from  her  large  masses  of 
the  precious  metals.  Pliny,  who  resided  some  time  in  the 
country,  relates  that  three  of  her  provinces  were  said  to  have 
annually  yielded  the  incredible  quantity  of  sixty  thousand 
pounds  of  gold.17  The  Arabs  with  their  usual  activity  pene- 
trated into  these  arcana  of  wealth.  Abundant  traces  of  their 
labors  are  still  to  be  met  with  along  the  barren  ridge  of  moun- 
tains that  covers  the  north  of  Andalusia;  and  the  diligent 
Bowles  has  enumerated  no  less  than  five  thousand  of  their 
excavations  in  the  kingdom  or  district  of  Jaen.18 

But  the  best  mine  of  the  caliphs  was  in  the  industry  and 
sobriety  of  their  subjects.  The  Arabian  colonies  have  been 
properly  classed  among  the  agricultural.  Their  acquaintance 
with  the  science  of  husbandry  is  shown  in  their  voluminous 
treatises  on  the  subject,  and  in  the  monuments  which  they 
have  everywhere  left  of  their  peculiar  culture.  The  system 
of  irrigation,  which  has  so  long  fertilized  the  south  of  Spain, 
was  derived  from  them.  They  introduced  into  the  Peninsula 
various  tropical  plants  and  vegetables,  whose  cultivation  has 
departed  with  them.  Sugar,  which  the  modern  Spaniards 
have  been  obliged  to  import  from  foreign  nations  in  large 
quantities  annually  for  their  domestic  consumption,  until 
within  the  last  half  century  that  they  have  been  supplied  by 
their  island  of  Cuba,  constituted  one  of  the  principal  exports 
of  the  Spanish  Arabs.  The  silk  manufacture  was  carried 
on  by  them  extensively.  The  Nubian  geographer,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  enumerates  six  hundred 
villages  in  Jaen  as  engaged  in  it,  at  a time  when  it  was  known 
to  the  Europeans  only  from  their  circuitous  traffic  with  the 
Greek  empire.  This,  together  with  fine  fabrics  of  cotton 
and  woollen,  formed  the  staple  of  an  active  commerce  with 
the  Levant,  and  especially  with  Constantinople,  whence  they 
were  again  diffused,  by  means  of  the  caravans  of  the  north, 
over  the  comparatively  barbarous  countries  of  Christendom. 

The  population  kept  pace  with  this  general  prosperity  of 
the  country.  It  would  appear  from  a census  instituted  at 
Cordova,  at  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  that  there  were 
at  that  time  in  it  six  hundred  temples  and  two  hundred 
thousand  dwelling-houses;  many  of  these  latter  being,  prob- 
ably, mere  huts  or  cabins,  and  occupied  by  separate  families. 
Without  placing  too  much  reliance  on  any  numerical  state- 
ments, however,  we  may  give  due  weight  to  the  inference  of 
an  intelligent  writer,  who  remarks  that  their  minute  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil,  the  cheapness  of  their  labor,  their  particluar 
attention  to  the  most  nutritious  esculents,  many  of  them 


214 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


such  as  would  be  rejected  by  Europeans  at  this  day,  are 
indicative  of  a crowded  population,  like  that,  perhaps,  which 
swarms  over  Japan  or  China,  where  the  same  economy  is 
necessarily  resorted  to  for  the  mere  sustenance  of  life.19 

Whatever  consequence  a nation  may  derive,  in  its  own  age, 
from  physcial  resources,  its  intellectual  development  will 
form  the  subject  of  deepest  interest  to  posterity.  The  most 
flourishing  periods  of  both  not  unfrequently  coincide.  Thus 
the  reigns  of  Abderrahman  the  Third,  Alhakem  the  Second, 
and  the  regency  of  Almanzor,  embracing  the  latter  half  of 
the  tenth  century,  during  which  the  Spanish  Arabs  reached 
their  highest  political  importance,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
period  of  their  highest  civilization  under  the  Omeyades; 
although  the  impulse  then  given  carried  them  forward  to  still 
further  advances,  in  the  turbulent  times  which  followed. 
This  beneficent  impulse  is,  above  all,  imputable  to  Alhakem. 
He  was  one  of  those  rare  beings,  who  have  employed  the 
awful  engine  of  despotism  in  promoting  the  happiness  and 
intelligence  of  his  species.  In  his  elegant  tastes,  appetite  for 
knowledge,  and  munificent  patronage,  he  may  be  compared 
with  the  best  of  the  Medici.  He  assembled  the  eminent 
scholars  of  his  time,  both  natives  and  foreigners,  at  his  court, 
where  he  employed  them  in  the  most  confidential  offices. 
He  converted  his  place  into  an  academy,  making  it  the 
familiar  resort  of  men  of  letters,  at  whose  conferences  he 
personally  assisted  in  his  intervals  of  leisure  from  public  duty. 
He  selected  the  most  suitable  persons  for  the  composition  of 
works  on  civil  and  natural  history,  requiring  the  prefects  of 
his  provinces  and  cities  to  furnish,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
necessary  intelligence.  He  was  a diligent  student,  and  left 
many  of  the  volumes  which  he  read,  enriched  with  his  com- 
mentaries. Above  all,  he  was  intent  upon  the  acquisition  of 
an  extensive  library.  He  invited  illustrious  foreigners  to 
send  him  their  works,  and  munificently  recompensed  them. 
No  donative  was  so  grateful  to  him  as  a book.  He  employed 
agents  in  Egypt,  Syria,  Irak,  and  Persia,  for  collecting  and 
transcribing  the  rarest  manuscripts;  and  his  vessels  returned 
freighted  with  cargoes  more  precious  than  the  spices  of  the 
east.  In  this  way  he  amassed  a magnificent  collection,  which 
was  distributed,  according  to  the  subjects,  in  various  apart- 
ments of  his  palace;  and  which,  if  we  may  credit  the  Arabian 
historians,  amounted  to  six  hundred  thousand  volumes.20 

If  all  this  be  thought  to  savor  too  much  of  eastern  hyperbole, 
still  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  an  amazing  number  of  writers 
swarmed  over  the  Peninsula  at  this  period.  Casiri’s  multi- 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


2I5 


farious  catalogue  bears  ample  testimony  to  the  emulation, 
with  which  not  only  men,  but  even  women  of  the  highest 
rank,  devoted  themselves  to  letters;  the  latter  contending  pub- 
licly for  the  prizes,  not  merely  in  eloquence  and  poetry,  but 
in  those  recondite  studies  which  have  usually  been  reserved 
for  the  other  sex.  The  prefects  of  the  provinces,  emulating 
their  master,  converted  their  courts  into  academies,  and 
dispensed  premiums  to  poets  and  philosophers.  The  stream 
of  royal  bounty  awakened  life  in  the  remotest  districts.  But 
its  effects  were  especially  visible  in  the  capital.  Eighty  free 
schools  were  opened  in  Cordova.  The  circle  of  letters  and 
science  was  publicly  expounded  by  professors,  whose  reputa- 
tion for  wisdom  attracted  not  only  the  scholars  of  Christian 
Spain,  but  of  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  the  British  Isles. 
For  this  period  of  brilliant  illumination  with  the  Saracens 
corresponds  precisely  with  that  of  the  deepest  barbarism  of 
Europe;  when  a library  of  three  or  four  hundred  volumes 
was  a magnificent  endowment  for  the  richest  monastery; 
when  scarcely  a “priest  south  of  the  Thames,”  in  the  words 
of  Alfred,  “could  translate  Latin  into  his  mother  tongue;” 
when  not  a single  philosopher,  according  to  Tiraboschi,  was 
to  be  met  with  in  Italy,  save  only  the  French  Pope  Sylvester 
the  Second,  who  drew  his  knowledge  from  the  schools  of  the 
Spanish  Arabs,  and  was  esteemed  a necromancer  for  his 
pains.21 

Such  is  the  glowing  picture  presented  to  us  of  Arabian 
scholarship,  in  the  tenth  and  succeeding  centuries,  under  a 
despotic  government  and  a sensual  religion;  and,  whatever 
judgment  may  be  passed  on  the  real  value  of  their  boasted 
literature,  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  nation  exhibited  a 
wonderful  activity  of  intellect,  and  an  apparatus  for  learning 
(if  we  are  to  admit  their  own  statements)  unrivalled  in  the 
best  ages  of  antiquity. 

The  Mahometan  governments  of  that  period  rested  on  so 
unsound  a basis,  that  the  season  of  their  greatest  prosperity 
was  often  followed  by  precipitate  decay.  This  had  been  the 
case  with  the  eastern  caliphate,  and  was  now  so  with  the 
western.  During  the  life  of  Alhakem’s  successor,  the  empire 
of  the  Omeyades  was  broken  up  into  a hundred  petty  princi- 
palities; and  their  magnificent  capital  of  Cordova,  dwindling 
into  a second-rate  city,  retained  no  other  distinction  than 
that  of  being  the  Mecca  of  Spain.  These  little  states  soon 
became  a prey  to  all  the  evils  arising  out  of  a vicious  con- 
stitution of  government  and  religion.  Almost  every  accession 
to  the  throne  was  contested  by  numerous  competitors  of  the 


2l6 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


same  family;  and  a succession  of  sovereigns,  wearing  on 
their  brows  but  the  semblance  of  a crown,  came  and  departed, 
like  the  shadows  of  Macbeth.  The  motley  tribes  of  Asiatics, 
of  whom  the  Spanish  Arabian  population  was  composed, 
regarded  each  other  with  ill-disguised  jealousy.  The  law- 
less, predatory  habits,  which  no  discipline  could  effectually 
control  in  an  Arab,  made  them  ever  ready  for  revolt.  The 
Moslem  states,  thus  reduced  in  size  and  crippled  by  faction, 
were  unable  to  resist  the  Christian  forces,  which  were  press- 
ing on  them  from  the  north.  By  the  middle  of  the  ninth 
century,  the  Spaniards  had  reached  the  Douro  and  the  Ebro. 
By  the  close  of  the  eleventh,  they  had  advanced  their  line 
of  conquest,  under  the  victorious  banner  of  the  Cid,  to  the 
Tagus.  The  swarms  of  Africans  who  invaded  the  Peninsula, 
during  the  two  following  centuries,  gave  substantial  support 
to  their  Mahometan  brethren;  and  the  cause  of  Christian 
Spain  trembled  in  the  balance  for  a moment  on  the  memor- 
able day  of  Navas  de  Tolosa.  But  the  fortunate  issue  of 
that  battle,  in  which,  according  to  the  lying  letter  of  Alfonso 
the  Ninth,  “one  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  infidels 
perished,  and  only  five  and  twenty  Spaniards,”  gave  a perma- 
nent ascendency  to  the  Christian  arms.  The  vigorous  cam- 
paigns of  James  the  First,  of  Aragon,  and  of  St.  Ferdinand, 
of  Castile,  gradually  stripped  away  the  remaining  territories 
of  Valencia,  Murcia,  and  Andalusia;  so  that,  by  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  the  constantly  contracting  circle  of 
the  Moorish  dominion  had  shrunk  into  the  narrow  limits  of 
the  province  of  Granada.  Yet  on  this  comparatively  small 
point  of  their  ancient  domain,  the  Saracens  erected  a new 
kingdom  of  sufficient  strength  to  resist,  for  more  than  two 
centuries,  the  united  forces  of  the  Spanish  monarchies. 

The  Moorish  territory  of  Granada  contained,  within  a cir- 
cuit of  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  leagues,  all  the  physical 
resources  of  a great  empire.  Its  broad  valleys  were  inter- 
sected by  mountains  rich  in  mineral  wealth,  whose  hardy 
population  supplied  the  state  with  husbandmen  and  soldiers. 
Its  pastures  were  fed  by  abundant  fountains,  and  its  coasts 
studded  with  commodious  ports,  the  principal  marts  in  the 
Mediterranean.  In  the  midst,  and  crowning  the  whole,  as 
with  a diadem,  rose  the  beautiful  city  of  Granada.  In  the 
days  of  the  Moors  it  was  encompassed  by  a wall,  flanked  by 
a thousand  and  thirty  towers,  with  seven  portals.22  Its  pop- 
ulation, according  to  a contemporary,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  amounted  to  two  hundred  thousand 
souls;23  and  various  authors  agree  in  attesting,  that,  at  a later 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


217 


period,  it  could  send  forth  fifty  thousand  warriors  from  its 
gates.  This  statement  will  not  appear  exaggerated,  if  we 
consider  that  the  native  population  of  the  city  was  greatly 
swelled  by  the  influx  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  dis- 
tricts lately  conquered  by  the  Spaniards.  On  the  summit  of 
one  of  the  hills  of  the  city  was  erected  the  royal  fortress  or  pal- 
ace of  the  Alhambra,  which  was  capable  of  containing  within 
its  circuit  forty  thousand  men.24  The  light  and  elegant  archi- 
tecture of  this  edifice,  whose  magnificent  ruins  still  form  the 
most  interesting  monument  in  Spain  for  the  contemplation  of 
the  traveller,  shows  the  great  advancement  of  the  art  since 
the  construction  of  the  celebrated  mosque  of  Cordova.  Its 
graceful  porticoes  and  colonnades,  its  domes  and  ceilings, 
glowing  with  tints,  which,  in  that  transparent  atmosphere, 
have  lost  nothing  of  their  original  brilliancy,  its  airy  halls, 
so  constructed  as  to  admit  the  perfume  of  surrounding  gar- 
dens and  agreeable  ventilations  of  the  air,  and  its  fountains, 
which  still  shed  their  coolness  over  its  deserted  courts,  mani- 
fest at  once  the  taste,  opulence,  and  Sybarite  luxury  of  its 
proprietors.  The  streets  are  represented  to  have  been  nar- 
row, many  of  the  houses  lofty,  with  turrets  of  curiously 
wrought  larch  or  marble,  and  with  cornices  of  shining  metal, 
“that  glittered  like  stars  through  the  dark  foliage  of  the 
orange  groves;”  and  the  whole  is  compared  to  “an  enam- 
elled vase,  sparkling  with  hyacinths  and  emeralds.”  26  Such 
are  the  florid  strains  in  which  the  Arabic  writers  fondly  de- 
scant on  the  glories  of  Granada. 

At  the  foot  of  this  fabric  of  the  genii  lay  the  cultivated 
vega,  or  plain,  so  celebrated  as  the  arena,  for  more  than  two 
centuries,  of  Moorish  and  Christian  chivalry,  every  inch  of 
whose  soil  may  be  said  to  have  been  fertilized  with  human 
blood.  The  Arabs  exhausted  on  it  all  their  powers  of  elab- 
orate cultivation.  They  distributed  the  waters  of  the  Xenil, 
which  flowed  through  it,  into  a thousand  channels  for  its 
more  perfect  irrigation.  A constant  succession  of  fruits  and 
crops  was  obtained  throughout  the  year.  The  products  of 
the  most  opposite  latitudes  were  transplanted  there  with  suc- 
cess; and  the  hemp  of  the  north  grew  luxuriant  under  the 
shadow  of  the  vine  and  the  olive.  Silk  furnished  the  prin- 
cipal staple  of  a traffic  that  was  carried  on  through  the  ports 
of  Almeria  and  Malaga.  The  Italian  cities,  then  rising  into 
opulence,  derived  their  principal  skill  in  this  elegant  manu- 
facture from  the  Spanish  Arabs.  Florence,  in  particular, 
imported  large  quantities  of  the  raw  material  from  them  as 
late  as  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Genoese  are  mentioned 

VOL.  I.  — IO. 


2 I 8 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


as  having  mercantile  establishments  in  Granada;  and  treaties 
of  commerce  were  entered  into  with  this  nation,  as  well  as 
with  the  crown  of  Aragon.  Their  ports  swarmed  with  a 
motley  contribution  from  “Europe,  Africa,  and  the  Levant,’' 
so  that  “Granada,”  in  the  words  of  the  historian,  “became 
the  common  city  of  all  nations.”  “The  reputation  of  the 
citizens  for  trust-worthiness,”  says  a Spanish  writer,  “was 
such,  that  their  bare  word  was  more  relied  on,  than  a written 
contract  is  now  among  us;”  and  he  quotes  the  saying  of 
a Catholic  bishop,  that  “Moorish  works  and  Spanish  faith 
were  all  that  were  necessary  to  make  a good  Christian.”  20 

The  revenue,  which  was  computed  at  twelve  hundred  thou- 
sand ducats,  was  derived  from  similar,  but,  in  some  respects, 
heavier  impositions  than  those  of  the  caliphs  of  Cordova.  The 
crown,  besides  being  possessed  of  valuable  plantations  in  the 
vega,  imposed  the  onerous  tax  of  one  seventh  on  all  the  agri- 
cultural produce  of  the  kingdom.  The  precious  metals  were 
also  obtained  in  considerable  quantities,  and  the  royal  mint 
was  noted  for  the  purity  and  elegance  of  its  coin.27 

The  sovereigns  of  Granada  were  for  the  most  part  dis- 
tinguished by  liberal  tastes.  They  freely  dispensed  their 
revenues  in  the  protection  of  letters,  the  construction  of 
sumptuous  public  works,  and,  above  all,  in  the  display  of  a 
courtly  pomp,  unrivalled  by  any  of  the  princes  of  that  period. 
Each  day  presented  a succession  of  fetes  and  tourneys,  in 
which  the  knight  seemed  less  ambitious  of  the  hardy  prowess 
of  Christian  chivalry,  than  of  displaying  his  inimitable  horse- 
manship, and  his  dexterity  in  the  elegant  pastimes  peculiar 
to  his  nation.  The  people  of  Granada,  like  those  of  ancient 
Rome,  seem  to  have  demanded  a perpetaul  spectacle.  Life 
was  with  them  one  long  carnival,  and  the  season  of  revelry 
was  prolonged  until  the  enemy  was  at  the  gate. 

During  the  interval,  which  had  elapsed  since  the  decay  of 
the  Omeyades,  the  Spaniards  had  been  gradually  rising  in 
civilization  to  the  level  of  their  Saracen  enemies;  and,  while 
their  increased  consequence  secured  them  from  contempt, 
with  which  they  had  formerly  been  regarded  by  the  Mussul- 
mans, the  latter,  in  their  turn,  had  not  so  far  sunk  in  the  scale, 
as  to  have  become  the  objects  of  the  bigoted  aversion,  which 
was,  in  after  days,  so  heartily  visited  on  them  by  the  Span- 
iards. At  this  period,  therefore,  the  two  nations  viewed  each 
other  with  more  liberality  probably,  than  at  any  previous  or 
succeeding  time.  Their  respective  monarchs  conducted  their 
mutual  negotiations  on  a footing  of  perfect  equality.  We 
find  several  examples  of  Arabian  sovereigns  visiting  in  person 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


219 


the  court  of  Castile.  These  civilities  were  reciprocated  by 
the  Christian  princes.  As  late  as  1463,  Henry  the  Fourth 
had  a personal  interview  with  the  king  of  Granada,  in  the 
dominions  of  the  latter.  The  two  monarchs  held  their  con- 
ference under  a splendid  pavilion  erected  in  the  vega,  before 
the  gates  of  the  city;  and,  after  an  exchange  of  presents,  the 
Spanish  sovereign  was  escorted  to  the  frontiers  by  a body  of 
Moorish  cavaliers.  These  acts  of  courtesy  relieve  in  some 
measure  the  ruder  features  of  an  almost  uninterrupted  war- 
fare, that  was  necessarily  kept  up  between  the  rival  nations.28 

The  Moorish  and  Christian  knights  were  also  in  the  habit 
of  exchanging  visits  at  the  courts  of  their  respective  masters. 
The  latter  were  wont  to  repair  to  Granada  to  settle  their 
affairs  of  honor,  by  personal  rencounter,  in  the  presence  of 
its  sovereign.  The  disaffected  nobles  of  Castile,  among 
whom  Mariana  especially  notices  the  Velas  and  the  Castros, 
often  sought  an  asylum  there,  and  served  under  the  Moslem 
banner.  With  this  interchange  of  social  courtesy  between 
the  two  nations,  it  could  not  but  happen  that  each  should 
contract  somewhat  of  the  peculiarities  natural  to  the  other. 
The  Spaniard  acquired  something  of  the  gravity  and  mag- 
nificence of  demeanor  proper  to  the  Arabian;  and  the  latter 
relaxed  his  habitual  reserve,  and  above  all,  the  jealousy  and 
gross  sensuality  which  charcaterize  the  nations  of  the  east.29 

Indeed,  if  we  were  to  rely  on  the  pictures  presented  to  us 
in  the  Spanish  ballads  or  romances , we  should  admit  as  unre- 
served an  intercourse  between  the  sexes  to  have  existed 
among  the  Spanish  Arabs,  as  with  any  other  people  of  Eu- 
rope. The  Moorish  lady  is  represented  there  as  an  undistin- 
guised  spectator  of  the  public  festivals;  while  her  knight, 
bearing  an  embroidered  mantle  or  scarf,  or  some  other  token 
of  her  favor,  contends  openly  in  her  presence  for  the  prize 
of  valor,  mingles  with  her  in  the  graceful  dance  of  the  Zam- 
bra,  or  sighs  away  his  soul  in  moonlight  serenades  under  her 
balcony.30 

Other  circumstances,  especially  the  frescoes  still  extant 
on  the  walls  of  the  Alhambra,  may  be  cited  as  corroborative 
of  the  conclusions  afforded  by  the  romances , implying  a lati- 
tude in  the  privileges  accorded  to  the  sex,  similar  to  that  in 
Christian  countries,  and  altogether  alien  from  the  genius  of 
Mahometanism.31  The  chivalrous  character  ascribed  to  the 
Spanish  Moslems  appears,  moreover,  in  perfect  conformity 
to  this.  Thus  some  of  their  sovereigns,  we  are  told,  after 
the  fatigues  of  the  tournament,  were  wont  to  recreate  their 
spirits  with  “elegant  poetry,  and  florid  discourses  of  amorous 


220 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


and  knightly  history.’’  The  ten  qualities,  enumerated  as 
essential  to  a true  knight,  were  “piety,  valor,  courtesy,. prow- 
ess, the  gifts  of  poetry  and  eloquence,  and  dexterity  in  the 
management  of  the  horse,  the  sword,  lance,  and  bow.’’33 
The  history  of  the  Spanish  Arabs,  especially  in  the  latter 
wars  of  Granada,  furnishes  repeated  examples,  not  merely 
of  the  heriosm,  which  distinguished  the  European  chivalry 
of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  but  occasionally  of 
a polished  courtesy,  that  might  have  graced  a Bayard  or  a 
Sidney.  This  combination  of  oriental  magnificence  and 
knightly  prowess  shed  a ray  of  glory  over  the  closing  days 
of  the  Arabian  empire  in  Spain,  and  served  to  conceal, 
though  it  could  not  correct,  the  vices  which  it  possessed  in 
common  with  all  Mahometan  institutions. 

The  government  of  Granada  was  not  administered  with 
the  same  tranquillity  as  that  of  Cordova,.  Revolutions  were 
perpetually  occurring,  which  may  be  traced  sometimes  to  the 
tyranny  of  the  prince,  but  more  frequently  to  the  factions  of 
the  seraglio,  the  soldiery,  or  the  licentious  populace  of  the 
capital  The  latter,  indeed,  more  volatile  than  the  sands  of 
the  deserts  from  which  they  originally  sprung,  were  driven  by 
every  gust  of  passion  into  the  most  frightful  excesses,  de- 
posing and  even  assassinating  their  monarchs,  violating  their 
palaces,  and  scattering  abroad  their  beautiful  collections  and 
libraries;  while  the  kingdom,  unlike  that  of  Cordova,  was  so 
contracted  in  its  extent,  that  every  convulsion  of  the  capital 
was  felt  to  its  farthest  extremities.  Still,  however,  it  held 
out,  almost  miraculously,  against  the  Christian  arms,  and  the 
storms  that  beat  upon  it  incessantly,  for  more  than  two  cen- 
turies, scarcely  wore  away  any  thing  from  its  original  limits. 

Several  circumstances  may  be  pointed  out  as  enabling 
Granada  to  maintain  this  protracted  resistance.  Its  concen- 
trated population  furnished  such  abundant  supplies  of  sol- 
diers, that  its  sovereigns  could  bring  into  the  field  an  army 
of  a hundred  thousand  men.33  Many  of  these  were  drawn 
from  the  regions  of  the  Alpuxarras,  whose  rugged  inhabitants 
had  not  been  corrupted  by  the  soft  effeminacy  of  the  plains. 
The  ranks  were  occasionally  recruited,  moreover,  from  the 
warlike  tribes  of  Africa.  The  Moors  of  Granada  are  praised 
by  their  enemies  for  their  skill  with  the  cross-bow,  to  the 
use  of  which  they  were  trained  from  childhood.34  But  their 
strength  lay  chiefly  in  their  cavalry.  Their  spacious  vegas 
afforded  an  ample  field  for  the  display  of  their  matchless 
horsemanship;  while  the  face  of  the  country,  intersected  by 
jnountains  and  intricate  defiles,  gave  a manifest  advantage 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


221 


to  the  Arabian  light-horse  over  the  steel-clad  cavalry  of  the 
Christians,  and  was  particularly  suited  to  the  wild  guerrilla 
warfare,  in  which  the  Moors  so  much  excelled.  During 
the  long  hostilities  of  the  country,  almost  every  city  had  been 
converted  into  a fortress.  The  number  of  these  fortified 
places  in  the  territory  of  Granada  was  ten  times  as  great  as 
is  now  to  be  found  throughout  the  whole  Peninsula.35  Lastly, 
in  addition  to  these  means  of  defence,  may  be  mentioned 
their  early  acquaintance  with  gunpowder,  which,  like  the 
Greek  fire  of  Constantinople,  contributed  perhaps  in  some 
degree  to  prolong  their  precarious  existence  beyond  its  nat- 
ural term. 

But  after  all,  the  strength  of  Granada,  like  that  of  Con- 
stantinople, lay  less  in  its  own  resources  than  in  the  weak- 
ness of  its  enemies,  who,  distracted  by  the  feuds  of  a turb- 
ulent aristocracy,  especially  during  the  long  minorities  with 
which  Castile  was  afflicted,  perhaps  more  than  any  other 
nation  in  Europe,  seemed  to  be  more  remote  from  the  con- 
quest of  Granada  at  the  death  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  than  at 
that  of  St.  Ferdinand  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Before 
entering  on  the  achievement  of  this  conquest  by  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  notice  the  probable  in- 
fluence exerted  by  the  Spanish  Arabs  on  European  civiliza- 
tion. 

Notwithstanding  the  high  advances  made  by  the  Arabians 
in  almost  every  branch  of  learning,  and  the  liberal  import  of 
certain  sayings  ascribed  to  Mahomet,  the  spirit  of  his  reli- 
gion was  eminently  unfavorable  to  letters.  The  Koran,  what- 
ever be  the  merit  of  its  literary  execution,  does  not,  we 
believe,  contain  a single  precept  in  favor  of  general  science.36 
Indeed  during  the  first  century  after  its  promulgation,  almost 
as  little  attention  was  bestowed  upon  this  by  the  Saracens, 
as  in  their  “days  of  ignorance,”  as  the  period  is  stigmatized 
which  preceded  the  advent  of  their  apostle.37  But,  after 
the  nation  had  reposed  from  its  tumultuous  military  career, 
the  taste  for  elegant  pleasures,  which  naturally  results  from 
opulence  and  leisure,  began  to  flow  in  upon  it.  It  entered 
upon  this  new  field  with  all  its  characteristic  enthusiasm, 
and  seemed  ambitious  of  attaining  the’same  preeminence  in 
science,  that  it  had  already  reached  in  arms. 

It  was  at  the  commencement  of  this  period  of  intellectual 
fermentation,  that  the  last  of  the  Omeyades,  escaping  into 
Spain,  established  there  the  kingdom  of  Cordova,  and  im- 
ported along  with  him  the  fondness  for  luxury  and  letters, 
that  had  begun  to  display  itself  in  the  capitals  of  the  east. 


222 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


His  munificent  spirit  descended  upon  his  successors;  and. 
on  the  breaking  up  of  the  empire,  the  various  capitals,  Se- 
ville, Murcia,  Malaga,  Granada,  and  others,  which  rose  upon 
its  ruins,  became  the  centres  of  so  many  intellectual  systems, 
that  continued  to  emit  a steady  lustre  through  the  clouds  and 
darkness  of  succeeding  centuries.  The  period  of  this  liter- 
ary civilization,  reached  far  into  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
thus,  embracing  an  interval  of  six  hundred  years,  may  be 
said  to  have  exceeded  in  duration  that  of  any  other  literature 
ancient  or  modern. 

There  were  several  auspicious  circumstances  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  Spanish  Arabs,  which  distinguished  them  from 
their  Mahometan  brethren.  The  temperate  climate  of  Spain 
was  far  more  propitious  to  robustness  and  elasticity  of  intel- 
lect than  the  sultry  regions^of  Arabia  and  Africa.  Its  long 
line  of  coast  and  convenient  havens  opened  to  an  enlarged 
commerce.  Its  numbers  of  rival  states  encouraged  a gener- 
ous emulation,  like  that  which  glowed  in  ancient  Greece  and 
modern  Italy;  and  was  infinitely  more  favorable  to  the  de- 
velopment of  the  mental  powers  than  the  far-extended  and 
sluggish  empires  of  Asia.  Lastly,  a familiar  intercourse  with 
the  Europeans  served  to  mitigate  in  the  Spanish  Arabs  some 
of  the  more  degrading  superstitions  incident  to  their  religion, 
and  to  impart  to  them  nobler  ideas  of  the  independence  and 
moral  dignity  of  man,  than  are  to  be  found  in  the  slaves  of 
eastern  despotism. 

Under  these  favorable  circumstances,  provisions  for  edu- 
cation were  liberally  multiplied,  colleges,  academies,  and 
gymnasiums  springing  up  spontaneously,  as  it  were,  not 
merely  in  the  principal  cities,  but  in  the  most  obscure  villages 
of  the  country.  No  less  than  fifty  of  these  colleges  or  schools 
could  be  discerned  scattered  over  the  suburbs  and  populous 
plains  of  Granada.  Seventy  public  libraries  are  enumerated 
in  Spain  by  a contemporary,  at  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  Every  place  of  note  seems  to  have  furnished 
materials  for  a literary  history.  The  copious  catalogues  of 
writers,  still  extant  in  the  Escurial,  show  how  extensively  the 
cultivation  of  science  was  pursued,  even  through  its  minute-st 
subdivisions;  while  a biographical  notice  of  blind  men,  emi- 
nent for  their  scholarship  in  Spain,  proves  how  far  the  general 
avidity  for  knowledge  triumphed  over  the  most  discouraging 
obstacles  of  nature.38 

The  Spanish  Arabs  emulated  their  countrymen  of  the  east 
in  their  devotion  to  natural  and  mathematical  science.  They 
penetrat  1 into  the  remotest  regions  of  Africa  and  Asia, 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


223 


transmitting  an  exact  account  of  their  proceedings  to  the 
national  academies.  They  contributed  to  astronomical  know- 
ledge by  the  number  and  accuracy  of  their  observations,  and 
by  the  improvement  of  instruments  and  the  erection  of  observ- 
atories, of  which  the  noble  tower  of  Seville  is  one  of  the 
earliest  examples.  They  furnished  their  full  proportion  in 
the  department  of  history,  which,  according  to  an  Arabian 
author  cited  by  D’Herbelot,  could  boast  of  thirteen  hundred 
writers.  The  treatises  on  logic  and  metaphysics  amount  to 
one  ninth  of  the  surviving  treasures  of  the  Escurial;  and,  to 
conclude  this  summary  of  naked  details,  some  of  their  scho- 
lars appear  to  have  entered  upon  as  various  a field  of  philo- 
sophical inquiry,  as  would  be  crowded  into  a modern  ency- 
clopaedia.39 

The  results,  it  must  be  confessed,  do  not  appear  to  have 
corresponded  with  this  magnificent  apparatus  and  unrivalled 
activity  of  research.  The  mind  of  the  Arabians  was  distin- 
guished by  the  most  opposite  characteristics,  which  some- 
times, indeed,  served  to  neutralize  each  other.  An  acute 
and  subtile  perception  was  often  clouded  by  mysticism  and 
abstraction.  They  combined  a habit  of  classification  and 
generalization,  with  a marvellous  fondness  for  detail;  a viva- 
cious fancy  with  a patience  of  application,  that  a German  of 
our  day  might  envy;  and,  while  in  fiction  they  launched 
boldly  into  originality,  indeed  extravagance,  they  were  con- 
tent in  philosophy  to  tread  servilely  in  the  track  of  their 
ancient  masters.  They  derived  their  science  from  versions 
of  the  Greek  philosophers;  but,  as  their  previous  discipline 
had  not  prepared  them  for  its  reception,  they  were  oppressed 
rather  than  stimulated  by  the  weight  of  the  inheritance. 
They  possessed  an  indefinite  power  of  accumulation,  but 
they  rarely  ascended  to  general  principles,  or  struck  out  new 
and  important  truths;  at  least,  this  is  certain  in  regard  to 
their  metaphysical  labors. 

Hence  Aristotle,  who  taught  them  to  arrange  what  they 
had  already  acquired,  rather  than  to  advance  to  new  discov- 
eries, became  the  god  of  their  idolatry.  They  piled  com- 
mentary on  commentary,  and,  in  their  blind  admiration  of 
his  system,  may  be  almost  said  to  have  been  more  of  Peri- 
patetics than  the  Stagirite  himself.  The  Cordovan  Averroes 
was  the  most  eminent  of  his  Arabian  commentators,  and 
undoubtedly  contributed  more  than  any  other  individual  to 
establish  the  authority  of  Aristotle  over  the  reason  of  man- 
kind for  so  many  ages.  Yet  his  various  illustrations  have 
served,  in  the  opinion  of  European  critics,  to  darken  rather 


224 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


than  dissipate  the  ambiguities  of  his  original,  and  have  even 
led  to  the  confident  assertion  that  he  was  wholly  unacquainted 
with  the  Greek  language.40 

The  Saracens  gave  an  entirely  new  face  to  pharmacy  and 
chemistry.  They  introduced  a great  variety  of  salutary 
medicaments  into  Europe.  The  Spanish  Arabs,  in  particu- 
lar, are  commended  by  Sprengel  above  their  brethren  for 
their  observations  on  the  practice  of  medicine.41  But  what- 
ever real  knowledge  they  possessed  was  corrupted  by  their 
inveterate  propensity  for  mystical  and  occult  science.  They 
too  often  exhausted  both  health  and  fortune  in  fruitless  re- 
searches after  the  elixir  of  life  and  the  philosopher’s  stone. 
Their  medical  prescriptions  were  regulated  by  the  aspect  of  the 
stars.  Their  physics  were  debased  by  magic,  their  chemistry 
degenerated  into  alchemy,  their  astronomy  into  astrology. 

In  the  fruitful  field  of  history,  their  success  was  even  more 
equivocal.  They  seem  to  have  been  wholly  destitute  of  the 
philosophical  spirit,  which  gives  life  to  this  kind  of  compo- 
sition. They  were  the  disciples  of  fatalism  and  the  subjects 
of  a despotic  government.  Man  appeared  to  them  only  in 
the  contrasted  aspects  of  slave  and  master.  What  could  they 
know  of  the  finer  moral  relations,  or  of  the  higher  energies 
of  the  soul,  which  are  developed  only  under  free  and  bene- 
ficent institutions?  Even  could  they  have  formed  concep- 
tions of  these,  how  would  they  have  dared  to  express  them? 
Hence  their  histories  are  too  often  mere  barren  chronolog- 
ical details,  or  fulsome  panegyrics  on  their  princes,  unenli- 
vened by  a single  spark  of  philosophy  or  criticism. 

Although  the  Spanish  Arabs  are  not  entitled  to  the  credit 
of  having  wrought  any  important  revolution  in  intellectual 
or  moral  science,  they  are  commended  by  a severe  critic,  as 
exhibiting  in  their  writings  “the  germs  of  many  theories, 
which  have  been  reproduced  as  discoveries  in  later  ages,”  42 
and  they  silently  perfected  several  of  those  useful  arts,  which 
have  had  a sensible  influence  on  the  happiness  and  improve- 
ment of  mankind.  Algebra,  and  the  higher  mathematics, 
were  taught  in  their  schools,  and  thence  diffused  over  Europe. 
The  manufacture  of  paper,  which,  since  the  invention  of 
printing,  has  contributed  so  essentially  to  the  rapid  circula- 
tion of  knowledge,  was  derived  through  them.  Casiri  has 
discovered  several  manuscripts  on  cotton  paper  in  the  Escu- 
rial  as  early  as  1009,  and  of  linen  paper  of  the  date  of  1106;43 
the  origin  of  which  latter  fabric  Tiraboschi  has  ascribed  to 
an  Italian  of  Trevigi,  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.44 
Lastly,  the  application  of  gunpowder  to  military  science, 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


225 


which  has  wrought  an  equally  important  revolution,  though 
of  a more  doubtful  complexion,  in  the  condition  of  society, 
was  derived  through  the  same  channel.45 

The  influence  of  the  Spanish  Arabs,  however,  is  discernible 
not  so  much  in  the  amount  of  knowledge,  as  in  the  impulse, 
which  they  communicated  to  the  long  dormant  energies  of 
Europe.  Their  invasion  was  coeval  with  the  commencement 
of  that  night  of  darkness,  which  divides  the  modern  from  the 
ancient  world.  The  soil  had  been  impoverished  by  long, 
assiduous  cultivation.  The  Arabians  came  like  a torrent, 
sweeping  down  and  obliterating  even  the  land-marks  of  for- 
mer civilization,  but  bringing  with  it  a fertilizing  principle, 
which,  as  the  waters  receded,  gave  new  life  and  loveliness  to 
the  landscape.  The  writings  of  the  Saracens  were  trans- 
lated and  diffused  throughout  Europe.  Their  schools  were 
visited  by  disciples,  who,  roused  from  their  lethargy,  caught 
somewhat  of  the  generous  enthusiasm  of  their  masters;  and 
a healthful  action  was  given  to  the  European  intellect, 
which,  however  ill  directed  at  first,  was  thus  prepared  for  the 
more  judicious  and  successful  efforts  of  later  times. 

It  is  comparatively  easy  to  determine  the  value  of  the  scien- 
tific labors  of  a people,  for  truth  is  the  same  in  all  languages; 
but  the  laws  of  taste  differ  so  widely  in  different  nations, 
that  it  requires  a nicer  discrimination  to  pronounce  fairly 
upon  such  works  as  are  regulated  by  them.  Nothing  is 
more  common  than  to  see  the  poetry  of  the  east  condemned 
as  tumid,  over-refined,  infected  with  meretricious  ornament 
and  conceits,  and,  in  short,  as  every  way  contravening  the 
principles  of  good  taste.  Few  of  the  critics,  who  thus  per- 
emptorily condemn,  are  capable  of  reading  a line  of  the 
original.  The  merit  of  poetry,  however,  consists  so  much 
in  its  literary  execution,  that  a person,  to  pronounce  upon 
it,  should  be  intimately  acquainted  with  the  whole  import  of 
the  idiom  in  which  it  is  written.  The  style  of  poetry,  in- 
deed of  all  ornamental  writing,  whether  prose  or  verse,  in 
order  to  produce  a proper  effect,  must  be  raised  or  relieved, 
as  it  were,  upon  the  prevailing  style  of  social  intercourse. 
Even  where  this  is  highly  figurative  and  impassioned,  as  with 
the  Arabians,  whose  ordinary  language  is  made  up  of  meta- 
phor, that  of  the  poet  must  be  still  more  so.  Hence  the 
tone  of  elegant  literature  varies  so  widely  in  different  coun- 
tries, even  in  those  of  Europe,  which  approach  the  nearest 
to  each  other  in  their  principles  of  taste,  that  it  would  be 
found  extremely  difficult  to  effect  a close  translation  of  the 
most  admired  specimens  of  eloquence  from  the  language 

TO* 


226 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


of  one  nation  into  that  of  any  other.  A page  of  Boccaccio 
or  Bembo,  for  instance,  done  into  literal  English,  would 
have  an  air  of  intolerable  artifice  and  verbiage.  The  choic- 
est morsels  of  Massillon,  Bossuet,  or  the  rhetorical  Thomas, 
would  savor  marvellously  of  bombast;  and  how  could  we  in 
any  degree  keep  pace  with  the  magnificent  march  of  the 
Castilian!  Yet  surely  we  are  not  to  impugn  the  taste  of  all 
these  nations,  who  attach  much  more  importance,  and  have 
paid  (at  least  this  is  true  of  the  French  and  Italian)  much 
greater  attention  to  the  mere  beauties  of  literary  finish,  than 
English  writers. 

Whatever  maybe  the  sins  of  the  Arabians  on  this  head, 
they  are  certainly  not  those  of  negligence.  The  Spanish 
Arabs,  in  particular,  were  noted  for  the  purity  and  elegance 
of  their  idiom;  insomuch  that  Casiri  affects  to  determine  the 
locality  of  an  author  by  the  superior  refinement  of  his  style. 
Their  copious  philological  and  rhetorical  treatises,  their  ajts 
of  poetry,  grammars,  and  rhyming  dictionaries,  show  to 
what  an  excessive  refinement  they  elaborated  the  art  of  com- 
position. Academies,  far  more  numerous  than  those  of 
Italy,  to  which  they  subsequently  served  for  a model,  invited 
by  their  premiums  frequent  competitions  in  poetry  and  elo- 
quence. To  poetry,  indeed,  especially  of  the  tender  kind, 
the  Spanish  Arabs  seem  to  have  been  as  indiscriminately 
addicted  as  the  Italians  in  the  time  of  Petrarch;  and  there 
was  scarcely  a doctor  in  church  or  state,  but  at  some  time 
or  other  offered  up  his  amorous  incense  on  the  altar  of  the 
muse.46 

With  all  this  poetic  feeling,  however,  the  Arabs  never 
availed  themselves  of  the  treasures  of  Grecian  eloquence, 
which  lay  open  before  them.  Not  a poet  or  orator  of  any 
eminence  in  that  language  seems  to  have  been  translated 
by  them.47  The  temperate  tone  of  Attic  composition  ap- 
peared tame  to  the  fervid  conceptions  of  the  east.  Neither 
did  they  venture  upon  what  in  Europe  are  considered  the 
higher  walks  of  the  art,  the  drama  and  the  epic.48  None 
of  their  writers  in  prose  or  verse  show  much  attention  to  the 
development  or  dissection  of  character.  Their  inspiration 
exhaled  in  lyrical  effusions,  in  elegies,  epigrams,  and  idyls. 
They  sometimes,  moreover,  like  the  Italians,  employed  verse 
as  the  vehicle  of  instruction  in  the  grave  and  recondite 
sciences.  The  general  character  of  their  poetry  is  bold, 
florid,  impassioned,  richly  colored  with  imagery,  sparkling 
with  conceits  and  metaphors,  and  occasionally  breathing  a 
deep  tone  of  moral  sensibility,  as  in  some  of  the  plaintive 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


227 


effusions  ascribed  by  Conde  to  the  royal  poets  of  Cordova. 
The  compositions  of  the  golden  age  of  the  Abassides,  and 
of  the  preceding  period,  do  not  seem  to  have  been  infected 
with  the  taint  of  exaggeration,  so  offensive  to  a European, 
which  distinguishes  the  later  productions  in  the  decay  of  the 
empire. 

Whatever  be  thought  of  the  influence  of  the  Arabic  on 
European  literature  in  general,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  that  it  has  been  considerable  on  the  Provenpale  and 
the  Castilian.  In  the  latter  especially,  so  far  from  being 
confined  to  the  vocabulary,  or  to  external  forms  of  compo- 
sition, it  seems  to  have  penetrated  deep  into  its  spirit,  and 
is  plainly  discernible  in  that  affectation  of  stateliness  and 
oriental  hyperbole,  which  characterizes  Spanish  writers  even 
at  the  present  day;  in  the  subtilties  and  conceits  with  which 
the  ancient  Castilian  verse  is  so  liberally  bespangled;  and  in 
the  relish  for  proverbs  and  prudential  maxims,  which  is  so 
general  that  it  may  be  considered  national.49 

A decided  effect  has  been  produced  on  the  romantic  litera- 
ture of  Europe  by  those  tales  of  fairy  enchantment,  so  char- 
acteristic of  oriental  genius,  and  in  which  it  seems  to  have 
revelled  with  uncontrolled  delight.  These  tales,  which  fur- 
nished the  principal  diversion  of  the  East,  were  imported  by 
the  Saracens  into  Spain;  and  we  find  the  monarchs  of  Cor- 
dova solacing  their  leisure  hours  with  listening  to  their  rawis , 
or  novelists,  who  sang  to  them 

“ Of  ladye-love  and  war,  romance,  and  knightly  worth.”  50 

The  same  spirit,  penetrating  into  France,  stimulated  the 
more  sluggish  inventions  of  the  trouvlre,  and,  at  a later  and 
more  polished  period,  called  forth  the  imperishable  creations 
of  the  Italian  muse.61 

It  is  unfortunate  for  the  Arabians,  that  their  literature 
should  be  locked  up  in  a character  and  idiom  so  difficult  of 
access  to  European  scholars.  Their  wild,  imaginative  poetry, 
scarcely  capable  of  transfusion  into  a foreign  tongue,  is  made 
known  to  us  only  through  the  medium  of  bald  prose  transla- 
tion; while  their  scientific  treatises  have  been  done  into  Latin 
with  an  inaccuracy,  which,  to  make  use  of  a pun  of  Casiri’s, 
merits  the  name  of  perversions  rather  than  versions  of  the 
originals.62  How  obviously  inadequate,  then,  are  our  means 
of  forming  any  just  estimate  of  their  merits!  It  is  unfortu- 
nate for  them,  moreover,  that  the  Turks,  the  only  nation, 
which,  from  an  identity  of  religion  and  government  with  the 


228 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


Arabs,  as  well  as  from  its  political  consequence,  would  seem 
to  represent  them  on  the  theatre  of  modern  Europe,  should 
be  a race  so  degraded;  one  which,  during  the  five  centuries, 
that  it  has  been  in  possession  of  the  finest  climate  and  mon- 
uments of  antiquity,  has  so  seldom  been  quickened  into  a 
display  of  genius,  or  added  so  little  of  possitive  value  to  the 
literary  treasures  descended  from  its  ancient  masters.  Yet 
this  people,  so  sensual  and  sluggish,  we  are  apt  to  confound 
in  imagination  with  the  sprightly,  intellectual  Arab.  Both 
indeed  have  been  subjected  to  the  influence  of  the  same  de- 
grading political  and  religious  institutions,  which  on  the 
Turks  have  produced  the  results  naturally  to  have  been  ex- 
pected; while  the  Arabians,  on  the  other  hand,  exhibit  the 
extraordinary  phenomenon  of  a nation,  under  all  these  embar- 
rassments, rising  to  a high  degree  of  elegance  and  intellectual 
culture. 

The  empire,  which  once  embraced  more  than  half  of  the 
ancient  world,  has  now  shrunk  within  its  original  limits;  and 
the  Bedouin  wanders  over  his  native  desert  as  free,  and  almost 
as  uncivilized,  as  before  the  coming  of  his  apostle.  The  lan- 
guage, which  was  once  spoken  along  the  southern  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean  and  the  whole  extent  of  the  Indian  ocean, 
is  broken  up  into  a variety  of  discordant  dialects.  Darkness 
has  again  settled  over  those  regions  of  Africa,  which  were 
illumined  by  the  light  of  learning.  The  elegant  dialect  of 
the  Koran  is  studied  as  a dead  language,  even  in  the  birth- 
place of  the  prophet.  Not  a printing-press  at  this  day  is  to 
be  found  throughout  the  whole  Arabian  Peninsula.  Even  in 
Spain,  in  Christian  Spain,  alas!  the  contrast  is  scarcely  less 
degrading.  A death-like  torpor  has  succeeded  to  her  former 
intellectual  activity.  Her  cities  are  emptied  of  the  popula- 
tion with  which  they  teemed  in  the  days  of  the  Saracens. 
Pier  climate  is  as  fair,  but  her  fields  no  longer  bloom  with 
the  same  rich  and  variegated  husbandry.  Her  most  inter- 
esting monuments  are  those  constructed  by  the  Arabs;  and 
the  traveller,  as  he  wanders  amid  their  desolate,  but  beautiful 
ruins,  ponders  on  the  destinies  of  a people,  whose  very  ex- 
istence seems  now  to  have  been  almost  as  fanciful  as  the 
magical  creations  in  one  of  their  own  fairy  tales. 


Notwithstanding1  the  history  of  the  Arabs  is  so  intimately  connected 
with  that  of  the  Spaniards,  that  it  may  be  justly  said  to  form  the  reverse 
side  of  it,  and  notwithstanding  the  amplitude  of  authentic  documents  in  the 
Arabic  tongue  to  be  found  in  the  public  libraries,  the  Castilian  writers, 
even  the  most  eminent,  until  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century,  with  an 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


229 


insensibility  which  can  be  imputed  to  nothing  else  but  a spirit  of  religious 
bigotry,  have  been  content  to  derive  their  narratives  exclusively  from  national 
authorities.  A fire,  which  occurred  in  the  Escurial  in  1671,  having  con- 
sumed more  than  three  quarters  of  the  magnificent  collection  of  eastern 
manuscripts  which  it  contained,  the  Spanish  government,  taking  some 
shame  to  itself,  as  it  would  appear,  for  its  past  supineness,  caused  a copious 
catalogue  of  the  surviving  volumes,  to  the  number  of  1850,  to  be  complied 
by  the  learned  Casiri;  and  the  result  was  his  celebrated  work,  “ Bibliotheca 
Arabico-IIispana  Escurialensis,”  which  appeared  in  the  years  1760-70,  and 
which  would  reflect  credit  from  the  splendor  of  its  typographical  execution 
on  any  press  of  the  present  day.  This  work,  although  censured  by  some 
later  orientalists  as  hasty  and  superficial,  must  ever  be  highly  valued  as 
affording  the  only  complete  index  to  the  rich  repertory  of  Arabian  manu- 
scripts in  the  Escurial,  and  for  the  ample  evidence  which  it  exhibits  of  the 
science  and  mental  culture  of  the  Spanish  Arabs.  Several  other  native 
scholars,  among  whom  Andres  and  Masdeu  may  be  particularly  noticed, 
have  made  extensive  researches  into  the  literary  history  of  this  people.  Still 
their  political  history,  so  essential  to  a correct  knowledge  of  the  Spanish, 
was  comparatively  neglected,  until  Senor  Conde,  the  late  learned  librarian 
of  the  Academy,  who  had  given  ample  evidence  of  his  oriental  learning  in 
his  version  and  illustrations  of  the  Nubian  Geographer,  and  a Dissertation 
on  Arabic  Coins  published  in  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  History,  compiled  his  work  entitled  “ Ilistoria  de  la  Domina- 
cio'n  de  los  Arabes  en  Espana.”  The  first  volume  appeared  in  1820.  But 
unhappily  the  death  of  its  author,  occurring  in  the  autumn  of  the  same 
year,  prevented  the  completion  of  his  design.  The  two  remaining  volumes, 
however,  were  printed  in  the  course  of  that  and  the  following  year  from 
his  own  manuscripts;  and,  although  their  comparative  meagreness  and  con- 
fused chronology  betray  the  want  of  the  same  paternal  hand,  they  contain 
much  interesting  information.  The  relation  of  the  conquest  of  Granada, 
especially,  with  which  the  work  concludes,  exhibits  some  important  par- 
ticulars in  a totally  different  point  of  view  from  that  in  which  they  had 
been  presented  by  the  principal  Spanish  historians. 

The  first  volume,  which  may  be  considered  as  having  received  the  last 
touches  of  its  author,  embraces  a circumstantial  narrative  of  the  great 
Saracen  invasion,  of  the  subsequent  condition  of  Spain  under  the  viceroys, 
and  of  the  empire  of  the  Omeyades;  undoubtedly  the  most  splendid  por- 
tion Of  Arabic #annals,  but  the  one,  unluckily,  which  has  been  most  co- 
piously illustrated  in  the  popular  work  compiled  by  Cardonne  from  the 
oriental  manuscripts  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Paris.  But  as  this  author  has 
followed  the  Spanish  and  the  oriental  authorities,  indiscriminately,  no  part 
of  his  book  can  be  cited  as  a genuine  Arabic  version,  except  indeed  the  last 
sixty  pages,  comprising  the  conquest  of  Granada,  which  Cardonne  pro- 
fesses in  his  Preface  to  have  drawn  exclusively  from  an  Arabian  manuscript. 
Conde,  on  the  other  hand,  professes  to  have  adhered  to  his  originals  with 
such  scrupulous  fidelity,  that  “the  European  reader  may  feel  that  he  is 
perusing  an  Arabian  author;”  and  certainly  very  strong  internal  evidence 
is  afforded  of  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  in  the  peculiar  national  and  reli- 
gious spirit  which  pervades  the  work,  and  in  a certain  florid  gasconade  of 
style,  common  with  the  oriental  writers.  It  is  this  fidelity  that  constitutes 
the  peculiar  value  of  Conde’s  narrative.  It  is  the  first  time  that  the  Ara- 
bians, at  least  those  of  Spain,  the  part  of  the  nation  which  reached  the 
highest  degree  of  refinement,  have  been  allowed  to  speak  for  themselves. 
The  history,  or  rather  tissue  of  histories,  embodied  in  the  translation,  is 
certainly  conceived  in  no  very  philosophical  spirit,  and  contains,  as  might 


330 


THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


be  expected  from  an  Asiatic  pen,  little  for  the  edification  of  a European 
reader  on  subjects  of  policy  and  government.  The  narrative  is,  moreover, 
encumbered  with  frivolous  details  and  a barren  muster-roll  of  names  and 
titles,  which  would  better  become  a genealogical  table  than  a history.  But, 
with  every  deduction,  it  must  be  allowed  to  exhibit  a sufficiently  clear  view 
of  the  intricate  conflicting  relations  of  the  petty  principalities,  which 
swarmed  over  the  Peninsula;  and  to  furnish  abundant  evidence  of  a wide- 
spread intellectual  improvement  amid  all  the  horrors  of  anarchy  and  a fero- 
cious despotism.  The  work  has  already  been  translated  or  rather  para- 
phrased into  French.  The  necessity  of  an  English  version  will  doubtless 
be  in  a great  degree  superseded  by  the  History  of  the  Spanish  Arabs,  pre- 
paring for  the  Cabinet  Cyclopaedia,  by  Mr.  Southey, — a writer,  with  whom 
few  Castilian  scholars  will  be  willing  to  compete,  even  on  their  own  ground; 
and  who  is,  happily,  not  exposed  to  the  national  or  religious  prejudices, 
which  can  interfere  with  his  "-ndering  perfect  justice  to  his  subjeet. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. — SURPRISE  OF  ZAHARA. — CAPTURE  OF 

ALHAMA. 

1481  — 1482. 

Zahara  surprised  by  the  Moors.— Marquis  of  Cadiz.— His  Expedition 
against  Alhama.— Valor  of  the  Citizens. — Desperate  Struggle.— Fall 
of  Alhama. — Consternation  of  the  Moors. — Vigorous  Measures  of  the 
Queen. 

No  sooner  had  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  restored  internal  tran- 
quillity to  their  dominions,  and  made  the  strength  effective, 
which  had  been  acquired  by  their  union  under  one  govern- 
ment, than  they  turned  their  eyes  to  those  fair  regions  of  the 
Pdhinsula,  over  which  the  Moslem  crescent  had  reigned 
triumphant  for  nearly  eight  centuries.  Fortunately  an  act  // 
of  aggression  on  the  part  of  the  Moors  furnished  a pretext 
for  entering  on  their  plan  of  conquest,  at  the  moment  when 
it  was  ripe  ior  execution.  Aben  Ismail,  who  had  ruled  in 
Granada  during  the  latter  part  of  John  the  Second’s  reign, 
and  the  commencement  of  Henry  the  Fourth’s,  had  been 
partly  indebted  for  his  throne  to  the  former  monarch;  and 
sentiments  of  gratitude  combined  with  a naturally  amiable 
disposition,  had  led  him  to  foster  as  amicable  relations  with 
the  Christian  princes,  as  the  jealousy  of  two  nations,  that 
might  be  considered  the  natural  enemies  of  each  other,  would 
permit;  so(that,  notwithstanding  an  occasional  border  foray, 
or  the  capture  of  a frontier  fortress,  such  a correspond- 
ence was  maintained  between  the  two  kingdoms,  that  the 
nobles  of  Castile  frequently  resorted  to  the  court  of  Gra- 
nada, where,  forgetting  their  ancient  feuds,  they  mingled  with 
the  Moorish  cavaliers  in  the  generous  pastimes  of  chivalry. 

Muley  Abul  Hacen,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  1466, 
was  of  a very  different  temperament.  His  fiery  character 
prompted  him,  when  very  young,  to  violate  the  truce  by  an 
unprovoked  inroad  into  Andalusia;  and,  although  after  his 
accession  domestic  troubles  occupied  him  too  closely  to  allow 
leisure  for  foreign  war,  he  still  cherished  in  secret  the  same 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


232 

feelings  of  animosity  against  the  Christians.  When,  in  1476, 
the  Spanish  sovereigns  required  as  the  condition  of  a renewal 
of  the  truce,  which  he  solicited,  the  payment  of  the  annual 
tribute  imposed  on  his  predecessors,  he  proudly^replied  that 
“the  mints  of  Granada  coined  no  longer  gold* but  steel/’ 
His  subsequent  conduct  did  not  belie  the  spirit  of  this  Spar- 
tan answer.1 

At  length,  toward  the  close  of  the  year  1481,  the  storm 
which  had  been  so  long  gathering  burst  upon  Zahara,  a small 
fortified  town  on  the  frontier  of  Andalusia,  crowning  a lofty 
eminence,  washed  at  its  base  by  the  river  Guadalete,  which 
from  its  position  seemed  almost  inaccessible.  The  garrison, 
trusting  to  these  natural  defences,  suffered  itself  to  be  sur- 
prised on  the  night  of  the  26th  of  December,  by  the  Moorish 
monarch;  who,  scaling  the  wralls  under  favor  of  a furious 
tempest,  which  prevented  his  approach  from  being  readily 
heard,  put  to  the  sword  such  of  the  guard  as  offered  resist- 
ance, and  swTept  away  the  whole  population  of  the  place,  men, 
women,  and  children,  in  slavery  to  Granada. 

The  intelligence  of  this  disaster  caused  deep  mortification 
to  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  especially  to  Ferdinand,  by  whose 
grandfather  Zahara  had  been  recovered  from  the  Moors. 
Measures  were  accordingly  taken  for  strengthening  the  whole 
line  of  frontier,  and  the  utmost  vigilance  was  exerted  to 
detect  some  vulnerable  point  of  the  enemy,  on  which  retalia- 
tion might  be  successfully  inflicted.  Neither  were  the  tidings 
of  their  own  successes  welcomed,  with  the  joy  that  might 
have  been  expected,  by  the  people  of  Granada.  The  prog- 
nostics, it  was  said,  afforded  by  the  appearance  of  the 
heavens,  boded  no  good.  More  sure  prognostics  were  af- 
forded in  the  judgments  of  thinking  men,  who  deprecated  the 
temerity  of  awakening  the  wrath  of  a vindictive  and  powerful 
enemy.  “Woe  is  me”!  exclaimed  an  ancient  Alfaki,  on 
quitting  the  hall  of  audience,  “The  ruins  of  Zahara  will  fall 
on  our  own  heads;  the  days  of  the  Moslem  empire  in  Spain 
are  now  numbered!’’2 

It  was  not  long  before  the  desired  opportunity  for  retalia- 
tion presented  itself  to  the  Spaniards.  One  Juan  de  Ortega, 
a captain  of  escaladores , or  scalers,  so  denominated  from  the 
peculiar  service  in  which  they  were  employed  in  besieging 
cities,  who  had  acquired  some  reputation  under  John  the 
Second,  in  the  wars  of  Rousillon,  reported  to  Diego  de  Merlo, 
assistant  of  Seville,  that  the  fortress  of  Alhama,  situated  in  the 
heart  of  the  Moorish  territories,  was  so  negligently  guarded, 
that  it  might  be  easily  carried  by  an  enemy,  who  had  skill 


SURPRISE  OF  ALHAMA. 


233 


enough  to  approach  it.  The  fortress,  as  well  as  the  city  of 
the  same  name,  which  it  commanded,  was  built,  like  many 
others  in  that  turbulent  period,  along  the  crest  of  a rocky 
eminence,  encompassed  by  a river  at  its  base,  and,  from  its 
natural  advantages,  might  be  deemed  impregnable.  This 
strength  of  position,  by  rendering  all  other  precautions  ap- 
parently superfluous,  lulled  its  defenders  into  a security  like 
that  which  had  proved  so  fatal  to  Zahara.  Alhama,  as  this 
Arabic  name  implies,  was  famous  for  its  baths,  whose  annual 
rents  are  said  to  have  amounted  to  five  hundred  thousand 
ducats.  The  monarchs  of  Granada,  indulging  the  taste  com- 
mon to  the  people  of  the  east,  used  to  frequent  this  place, 
with  their  court,  to  refresh  themselves  with  its  delicious 
waters,  so  that  Alhama  became  embellished  with  all  the  mag- 
nificence of  a royal  residence.  The  place  was  still  further 
enriched  by  its  being  the  depot  of  the  public  taxes  on  land, 
which  constituted  a principal  branch  of  the  revenue,  and  by 
its  various  manufactures  of  cloth,  for  which  its  inhabitants 
were  celebrated  throughout  the  kingdom  of  Granada.3 

Diego  de  Merlo,  although  struck  with  the  advantages  of 
this  conquest,  was  not  insensible  to  the  difficulties  with  which 
it  would  be  attended;  since  Alhama  was  sheltered  under  the 
very  wings  of  Granada,  from  which  it  lay  scarcely  eight  leagues 
distant,  and  could  be  reached  only  by  traversing  the  most 
populous  portion  of  the  Moorish  territory,  or  by  surmounting 
a precipitous  sierra , or  chain  of  mountains,  which  screened  it 
on  the  north.  Without  delay,  however,  he  communicated  the 
information  which  he  had  received  to  Don  Rodrigo  Ponce  de 
Leon,  marquis  of  Cadiz,  as  the  person  best  fitted  by  his  capa- 
city and  courage  for  such  an  enterprise.  This  nobleman, 
who  had  succeeded  his  father,  the  count  of  Arcos,  in  1469, 
as  head  of  the  great  house  of  Ponce  de  Leon,  was  at  this 
period  about  thirty-nine  years  of  age.  Although  a younger 
and  illegitimate  son,  he  had  been  preferred  to  the  succession 
in  consequence  of  the  extraordinary  promise  which  his  early 
youth  exhibited.  When  scarcely  seventeen  years  old,  he 
achieved  a victory  over  the  Moors,  accompanied  with  a signal 
display  of  personal  prowess.4  Later  in  life,  he  formed  a con- 
nection with  the  daughter  of  the  marquis  of  Villena,  the 
factious  minister  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  through  whose  influ- 
ence he  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  marquis  of  Cadiz.  This 
alliance  attached  him  to  the  fortunes  of  Henry,  in  his  disputes 
with  his  brother  Alfonso,  and  subsequently  with  Isabella,  on 
whose  accession,  of  course,  Don  Rodrigo  looked  with  no 
friendly  eye.  He  did  not,  however,  engage  in  any  overt  act  of 


234 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


resistance,  but  occupied  himself  with  prosecuting  an  heredi- 
tary feud,  which  he  had  revived  with  the  duke  of  Medina 
Sidonia,  the  head  of  the  Guzmans;  a family,  which  from 
ancient  times  had  divided  with  his  own  the  great  interests  of 
Andalusia.  The  pertinacity  with  which  this  feud  was  con- 
ducted, and  the  desolation  which  it  carried  not  only  into 
Seville,  but  into  every  quarter  of  the  province,  have  been 
noticed  in  the  preceding  pages.  The  vigorous  administra- 
tion of  Isabella  repressed  these  disorders,  and,  after  abridging 
the  overgrown  power  of  the  two  nobles,  effected  an  apparent 
(it  was  only  apparent)  reconciliation  between  them.  The 
fiery  spirit  of  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  no  longer  allowed  to 
escape  in  domestic  broil,  urged  him  to  seek  distinction  in 
more  honorable  warfare;  and  at  this  moment  he  lay  in  his 
castle  at  Arcos,  looking  with  a watchful  eye  over  the  borders, 
and  waiting,  like  a lion  in  ambush,  the  moment  when  he 
could  spring  upon  his  victim. 

Without  hesitation,  therefore,  he  assumed  the  enterprise 
proposed  by  Diego  de  Merlo,  imparting  his  purpose  to  Don 
Pedro  Henriquez,  adelantado  of  Andalusia,  a relative  of  Fer- 
dinand, and  to  the  alcaydes  of  two  or  three  neighboring 
fortresses.  With  the  assistance  of  these  friends  he  assembled 
a force,  which,  including  those  who  marched  under  the  banner 
of  Seville,  amounted  to  two  thousand  five  hundred  horse  and 
three  thousand  foot.  His  own  town  of  Marchena  was  ap- 
pointed as  the  place  of  rendezvous.  The  proposed  route  lay 
by  the  way  of  Antequera,  across  the  wild  sierras  of  Alzerifa. 
The  mountain  passes,  sufficiently  difficult  at  a season  when 
their  numerous  ravines  were  choked  up  by  the  winter  tor- 
rents, were  rendered  still  more  formidable  by  being  tra- 
versed in  the  darkness  of  night;  for  the  party,  in  order  to 
conceal  their  movements,  lay  by  during  the  day.  Leaving 
their  baggage  on  the  banks  of  the  Yeguas,  that  they  might 
move  forward  with  greater  celerity,  the  whole  body  at  length 
arrived,  after  a rapid  and  most  painful  march,  on  the  third 
night  from  their  departure,  in  a deep  valley  about  half  a 
league  from  Alhama.  Here  the  marquis  first  revealed  the 
real  object  of  the  expedition  to  his  soldiers,  who,  little  dream- 
ing of  any  thing  beyond  a mere  border  inroad,  were  trans- 
ported with  joy  at  the  prospect  of  the  rich  booty  so  nearly 
within  their  grasp.5 

The  next  morning,  being  the  28th  of  February,  a small 
party  was  detached,  about  two  hours  before  dawn,  under  the 
command  of  John  de  Ortega  for  the  purpose  of  scaling  the 
citadel,  while  the  main  body  moved  forward  more  leisurely 


SURPRISE  OF  ALHAMA. 


235 


under  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  in  order  to  support  them.  The 
night  was  dark  and  tempestuous,  circumstances  which  favored 
their  approach  in  the  same  manner  as  with  the  Moors  at 
Zahara.  After  ascending,  the  rocky  heights  which  were 
crowned  by  the  citadel,  the  ladders  were  silently  placed  against 
the  walls,  and  Ortega,  followed  by  about  thirty  others,  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  the  battlements  unobserved.  A sentinel, 
who  was  found  sleeping  on  his  post,  they  at  once  despatched, 
and,  proceeding  cautiously  forward  to  the  guard-room,  put 
the  whole  of  the  little  garrison  to  the  sword,  after  the  short 
and  ineffectual  resistance  that  could  be  opposed  by  men  sud- 
denly roused  from  slumber.  The  city  in  the  mean  time  was 
alarmed,  but  it  was  too  late;  the  citadel  was  taken;  and  the 
outer  gates,  which  opened  into  the  country,  being  thrown 
open,  the  marquis  of  Cadiz  entered  with  trumpet  sounding 
and  banner  flying,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  and  took  posses- 
sion of  the  fortress.6 

After  allowing  the  refreshment  necessary  to  the  exhausted 
spirits  of  his  soldiers,  the  marquis  resolved  to  sally  forth  at 
once  upon  the  town,  before  its  inhabitants  could  muster  in 
sufficient  force  to  oppose  him.  But  the  citizens  of  Alhama, 
showing  a resolution  rather  to  have  been  expected  from  men 
trained  in  a camp,  than  from  peaceful  burghers  of  a manu- 
facturing town,  had  sprung  to  arms  at  the  first  alarm,  and, 
gathering  in  the  narrow  street  on  which  the  portal  of  the 
castle  opened,  so  completely  enfiladed  it  with  their  arque- 
buses and  crossbows,  that  the  Spaniards,  after  an  ineffectual 
attempt  to  force  a passage,  were  compelled  to  recoil  upon 
their  defences,  amid  showers  of  bolts  and  balls  which  occa- 
sioned the  loss,  among  others,  of  two  of  their  principal  al- 
caydes. 

A council  of  war  was  then  called,  in  which  it  was  even 
advised  by  some,  that  the  fortress,  after  having  been  dis- 
mantled, should  be  abandoned  as  incapable  of  defence  against 
the  citizens  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  succors  which  might  be 
expected  speedily  to  arrive  from  Granada,  on  the  other.  But 
this  counsel  was  rejected  with  indignation  by  the  marquis  oi 
Cadiz,  whose  fiery  spirit  rose  with  the  occasion;  indeed,  it  was 
not  very  palatable  to  most  of  his  followers,  whose  cupdity  was 
more  than  ever  inflamed  by  the  sight  of  the  rich  spoil,  which, 
after  so  many  fatigues,  now  lay  at  their  feet.  It  was  accord- 
ingly resolved  to  demolish  part  of  the  fortifications,  which 
looked  toward  the  town,  and  at  all  hazards  to  force  a passage 
into  it.  This  resolution  was  at  once  put  into  execution;  and 
the  marquis,  throwing  himself  into  the  breach  thus  made,  at 


236 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


the  head  of  his  men-at-arms,  and  shouting  his  war-cry  of  “St. 
James  and  the  Virgin,”  precipitated  himself  into  the  thickest 
of  the  enemy.  Others  of  the  Spaniards,  running  along  the 
out-works  contiguous  to  the  buildings  of  the  city,  leaped  into 
the  street,  and  joined  their  companions  there,  while  others 
again  sallied  from  the  gates,  now  opened  for  the  second  time.7 

The  Moors,  unshaken  by  the  fury  of  this  assault,  received 
the  assailants  with  brisk  and  well-directed  volleys  of  shot  and 
arrows;  while  the  women  and  children,  thronging  the  roofs 
and  balconies  of  the  houses,  discharged  on  their  heads  boil- 
ing oil,  pitch,  and  missies  of  every  description.  But  the 
weapons  of  the  Moors  glanced  comparatively  harmless  from 
the  mailed  armor  of  the  Spaniards,  while  their  own  bodies, 
loosely  arrayed  in  such  habiliments  as  they  could  throw  over 
them  in  the  confusion  of  the  night,  presented  a fatal  mark  to 
their  enemies.  Still  they  continued  to  maintain  a stout  re- 
sistance, checking  the  progress  of  the  Spaniards  by  barricades 
of  timber  hastily  thrown  across  the  streets;  and,  as  their 
intrenchments  were  forced  one  after  another,  they  disputed 
every  inch  of  ground  with  the  desperation  of  men  who  fought 
for  life,  fortune,  liberty,  all  that  was  most  dear  to  them.  The 
contest  hardly  slackened  till  the  close  of  day,  while  the  ken- 
nels literally  ran  with  blood,  and  every  avenue  was  choked 
up  with  the  bodies  of  the  slain.  At  length,  however,  Spanish 
valor  proved  triumphant  in  every  quarter,  except  where  a 
small  and  desperate  remnant  of  the  Moors,  having  gathered 
their  wives  and  children  around  them,  retreated  as  a last 
resort  into  a large  mosque  near  the  walls  of  the  city,  from 
which  they  kept  up  a galling  fire  on  the  closed  ranks  of  the 
Christians.  The  latter  after  enduring  some  loss,  succeeded 
in  sheltering  themselves  so  effectually  under  a roof  or  canopy 
constructed  of  their  own  shields,  in  the  manner  practised  in 
war  previous  to  the  exclusive  use  of  fire-arms,  that  they  were 
enabled  to  approach  so  near  the  mosque,  as  to  set  fire  to  its 
doors;  when  its  tenants,  menaced  with  suffocation,  made  a 
desperate  sally,  in  which  many  perished,  and  the  remainder 
surrendered  at  discretion.  The  prisoners  thus  made  were 
all  massacred  on  the  spot  without  distinction  of  sex  or  age, 
according  to  the  Saracen  accounts.  But  the  Castilian  writers 
make  no  mention  of  this;  and,  as  the  appetites  of  the  Sp  n- 
iards  were  not  yet  stimulated  by  that  love  of  carnage,  which 
they  afterward  displayed  in  their  American  wars,  and  which 
was  repugnant  to  the  chivalrous  spirit  with  which  their  con- 
tests with  the  Moslems  were  usually  conducted,  we  may  be 
justified  in  regarding  it  as  an  invention  of  the  enemy  8 


SURPRISE  OF  ALHAMA. 


237 


Alhama  was  now  delivered  up  to  the  sack  of  the  soldiery, 
and  rich  indeed  was  the  booty  which  fell  into  their  hands, — 
gold  and  silver  plate,  pearls,  jewels,  fine  silks  and  cloths, 
curious  and  costly  furniture,  and  all  the  various  appurte- 
nances of  a thriving,  luxurious  city.  In  addition  to  which, 
the  magazines  were  found  well  stored  with  the  more  substan- 
tial, and  at  the  present  juncture,  more  serviceable  supplies 
of  grain,  oil,  and  other  provisions.  Nearly  a quarter  of  the 
population  is  said  to  have  perished  in  the  various  conflicts 
of  the  day,  and  the  remainder,  according  to  the  usage  of  the 
time,  became  the  prize  of  the  victors.  A considerable  number 
of  Christian  captives,  who  were  found  immured  in  the  public 
prisons,  were  restored  to  freedom,  and  swelled  the  general 
jubilee  with  their  grateful  acclamations.  The  contemporary 
Castilian  chroniclers  record  also,  with  no  less  satisfaction, 
the  detection  of  a Christian  renegade,  notorious  for  his  depre- 
dations on  his  countrymen,  whose  misdeeds  the  marquis  of 
Cadiz  requited  by  causing  him  to  be  hung  up  over  the  battle- 
ments of  the  castle,  in  the  face  of  the  whole  city.  Thus  fell 
the  ancient  city  of  Alhama,  the  first  conquest,  and  achieved 
with  a gallantry  and  daring  unsurpassed  by  any  other  during 
this  memorable  war.9 

The  report  of  this  disaster  fell  like  the  knell  of  their  own 
doom  on  the  ears  of  the  inhabitants  of  Granada.  It  seemed 
as  if  the  hand  of  Providence  itself  must  have  been  stretched 
forth  to  smite  the  stately  city,  which,  reposing  as  it  were 
under  the  shadow  of  their  own  walls,  and  in  the  bosom  of  a 
peaceful  and  populous  country,  was  thus  suddenly  laid  low 
in  blood  and  ashes.  Men  now  read  the  fulfilment  of  the 
disastrous  omens  and  predictions  which  ushered  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Zahara.  The  melancholy  romance  or  ballad,  with  the 
burden  of  Ay  de  mi  Alhama  “Woe  is  me,  Alhama,”  com- 
posed probably  by  some  one  of  the  nation  not  long  after  this 
event,  shows  how  deep  was  the  dejection  which  settled  on  the 
spirits  of  the  people.  The  old  king,  Abul  Hacen,  however, 
far  from  resigning  himself  to  useless  lamentation,  sought  to 
retrieve  his  loss  by  the  most  vigorous  measures.  A body  of 
a thousand  horse  was  sent  forward  to  reconnoitre  the  city, 
while  he  prepared  to  follow  with  as  powerful  levies,  as  he 
could  enforce,  of  the  militia  of  Granada.10 

The  intelligence  of  the  conquest  of  Alhama  diffused  gene- 
ral satisfaction  throughout  Castile,  and  was  especially  grate- 
ful to  the  sovereigns,  who  welcomed  it  as  an  auspicious  omen 
of  the  ultimate  success  of  their  designs  upon  the  Moors. 
They  were  attending  mass  in  their  royal  palace  of  Medina 


238 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


del  Campo,  when  they  received  despatches  from  the  marquis 
of  Cadiz,  informing  them  of  the  issue  of  his  enterprise. 

‘ ‘ During  all  the  while  he  sat  at  dinner,  ’ ’ says  a precise  chroni- 
cler of  the  period,  “the  prudent  Ferdinand  was  revolving 
in  his  mind  the  course  best  to  be  adopted.”  He  reflected 
that  the  Castilians  would  soon  be  beleaguered  by  an  over- 
whelming force  from  Granada,  and  he  determined  at  all 
hazards  to  support  them.  He  accordingly  gave  orders  to 
make  instant  preparation  for  departure;  but,  first,  accom- 
panied the  queen,  attended  by  a solemn  procession  of  the 
court  and  clergy,  to  the  cathedral  church  of  St.  James;  where 
Te  Deum  was  chanted,  and  a humble  thanksgiving  offered 
up  to  the  Lord  of  hosts  for  the  success  with  which  he  had 
crowned  their  arms.  Toward  evening,  the  king  set  forward 
on  his  journey  to  the  south,  escorted  by  such  nobles  and 
cavaliers  as  were  in  attendance  on  his  person,  leaving  the 
queen  to  follow  more  leisurely,  after  having  provided  rein- 
forcements and  supplies  requisite  for  the  prosecution  of  the 
war.11 

On  the  5th  of  March,  the  king  of  Granada  appeared  before 
the  walls  of  Alhama,  with  an  army  which  amounted  to  three 
thousand  horse  and  fifty  thousand  foot.  The  first  object 
which  encountered  his  eyes,  was  the  mangled  remains  of  his 
unfortunate  subjects,  which  the  Christians,  who  would  have 
been  scandalized  by  an  attempt  to  give  them  the  rites  of 
sepulture,  had  from  dread  of  infection  thrown  over  the  walls, 
where  they  now  lay  half-devoured  by  birds  of  prey  and  the 
ravenous  dogs  of  the  city.  The  Moslem  troops,  transported 
with  horror  and  indignation  at  this  hideous  spectacle,  called 
loudly  to  be  led  to  the  attack.  They  had  marched  from 
Granada  with  so  much  precipitation,  that  they  were  wholly 
unprovided  with  artillery,  in  the  use  of  which  they  were  ex- 
pert for  that  period;  and  which  was  now  the  more  necessary, 
as  the  Spaniards  had  diligently  employed  the  few  days  which 
intervened  since  their  occupation  of  the  place,  in  repairing  the 
breaches  in  the  fortifications,  and  in  putting  them  in  a posture 
of  defence.  But  the  Moorish  ranks  were  filled  with  the 
flower  of  their  chivalry,  and  their  immense  superiority  of 
numbers  enabled  them  to  make  their  attacks  simultaneously  on 
the  most  distant  quarters  of  the  town,  with  such  unintermitted 
vivacity,  that  the  little  garrison,  scarcely  allowed  a moment 
for  repose,  was  wellnigh  exhausted  with  fatigue.12 

At  length,  however,  Abul  Hacen,  after  the  loss  of  more  than 
two  thousand  of  his  bravest  troops  in  these  precipitated 
assaults,  became  convinced  of  the  impracticability  of  forcing 


SURPRISE  OF  ALHAMA. 


-39 


a position,  whose  natural  strength  was  so  ably  seconded  by 
the  valor  of  its  defenders,  and  he  determined  to  reduce  the 
place  by  the  more  tardy  but  certain  method  of  blockade.  In 
this  he  was  favored  by  one  or  two  circumstances.  The  town, 
having  but  a single  well  within  its  walls,  was  almost  wholly 
indebted  for  its  supplies  of  water  to  the  river  which  flowed 
£t  its  base.  The  Moors,  by  dint  of  great  labor,  succeeded 
in  diverting  the  stream  so  effectually,  that  the  only  commu- 
nication with  it,  which  remained  open  to  the  beseiged,  was  by 
a subterraneous  gallery  or  mine,  that  had  probably  been  con- 
trived with  reference  to  some  such  emergency  by  the  original 
inhabitants.  The  mouth  of  this  passage  was  commanded  in 
such  a manner  by  the  Moorish  archers,  that  no  egress  could 
be  obtained  without  a regular  skirmish,  so  that  every  drop 
of  water  might  be  said  to  be  purchased  with  the  blood  of 
Christians;  who,  “if  they  had  not  possessed  the  courage  of 
Spaniards,  ’ ’ says  a Castilian  writer, ‘ ‘would  have  been  reduced 
to  the  last  extremity.”  In  addition  to  this  calamity,  the 
garrison  began  to  be  menaced  with  scarcity  of  provisions, 
owing  to  the  improvident  waste  of  the  soldiers,  who  supposed 
that  the  city,  after  being  plundered,  was  to  be  razed  to  the 
ground  and  abandoned.13 

At  this  crisis  they  received  the  unwelcome  tidings  of  the 
failure  of  an  expedition  destined  for  their  relief  by  Alonso 
de  Aguilar.  This  cavalier,  the  chief  of  an  illustrious  house 
since  rendered  immortal  by  the  renown  of  his  younger  brother, 
Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  had  assembled  a considerable  body 
of  troops,  on  learning  the  capture  of  Alhama,  for  the  purpose 
of  supporting  his  friend  and  companion  in  arms,  the  mar- 
quis of  Cadiz.  On  reaching  the  shores  of  the  Yeguas,  he 
received,  for  the  first  time,  advices  of  the  formidable  host 
which  lay  between  him  and  the  city,  rendering  hopeless  any 
attempt  to  penetrate  into  the  latter  with  his  inadequate  force. 
Contenting  himself,  therefore,  with  recovering  the  baggage, 
which  the  marquis’s  army  in  its  rapid  march,  as  has  been 
already  noticed,  had  left  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  he  re- 
turned to  Antequera.14 

Under  these  depressing  circumstances,  the  indomitable 
spirit  of  the  marquis  of  Cadiz  seemed  to  infuse  itself  into 
the  hearts  of  his  soldiers.  He  was  ever  in  the  front  of  danger, 
and  shared  the  privations  of  the  meanest  of  his  followers; 
encouraging  them  to  rely  with  undoubting  confidence  on  the 
sympathies  which  their  cause  must  awaken  in  the  breasts  of 
their  countrymen.  The  event  proved,  that  he  did  not  mis- 
calculate. Soon  after  the  occupation  of  Alhama,  the  marquis. 


240 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


foreseeing  the  difficulties  of  his  situation,  had  despatched 
missives,  requesting  the  support  of  the  principal  lords  and 
cities  of  Andalusia.  In  this  summons  he  had  omitted  the 
duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  as  one  who  had  good  reason  to  take 
umbrage  at  being  excluded  from  a share  in  the  original  en- 
terprise. Henrique  de  Guzman,  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia, 
possessed  a degree  of  power  more  considerable  than  any  other 
chieftain  in  the  south.  His  yearly  rents  amounted  to  nearly 
sixty  thousand  ducats,  and  he  could  bring  into  the  field,  it 
was  said,  from  his  own  resources  an  army  little  inferior  to 
what  might  be  raised  by  a sovereign  prince.  He  had  suc- 
ceeded to  his  inheritance  in  1468,  and  had  very  early  given 
his  support  to  the  pretensions  of  Isabella.  Notwithstanding 
his  deadly  feud  with  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  he  had  the  gene- 
rosity, on  the  breaking  out  of  the  present  war,  to  march  to 
the  relief  of  the  marchioness  when  beleaguered,  during  her 
husband’s  absence,  by  a party  of  Moors  from  Ronda,  in  her 
own  castle  of  Arcos.  He  now  showed  a similar  alacrity  in 
sacrificing  all  personal  jealousy  at  the  call,  of  patriotism.16 

No  sooner  did  he  learn  the  perilous  condition  of  his  country- 
men in  Alhama,  than  he  mustered  the  whole  array  of  his  house- 
hold troops  and  retainers,  which,  when  combined  with  those 
of  the  marquis  de  Villena,  of  the  count  de  Cabra,  and  those 
from  Seville,  in  which  city  the  family  of  the  Guzmaos  had 
lpng  exercised  a sort  of  hereditary  influence,  swelled  to  the 
number  of  five  thousand  horse  and  forty  thousand  foot.  The 
duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  putting  himself  at  the  head  of  this 
powerful  body,  set  forward  without  delay  on  his  expedition. 

When  king  Ferdinand  in  his  progress  to  the  south  had 
reached  the  little  town  of  Adamuz,  about  five  leagues  from 
Cordova,  he  was  informed  of  the  advance  of  the  Andalusian 
chivalry,  and  instantly  sent  instructions  to  the  duke  to  delay 
his  march,  as  he  intended  to  come  in  person  and  assume  the 
command.  But  the  latter,  returning  a respectful  apology 
for  his  disobedience,  represented  to  his  master  the  extremi- 
ties to  which  the  besieged  were  already  reduced,  and  without 
waiting  for  a reply  pushed  on  with  the  utmost  vigor  for  Al- 
bania. The  Moorish  monarch,  alarmed  at  the  approach  of 
so  powerful  a reinforcement,  saw  himself  in  danger  of  being 
hemmed  in  between  the  garrison  on  the  one  side,  and  these 
new  enemies  on  the  other.  Without  waiting  their  appearance 
on  the  crest  of  the  eminence  which  separated  him  from  them, 
lie  hastily  broke  up  his  encampment,  on  the  29th  of  March, 
after  a siege  of  more  than  three  weeks,  and  retreated  on  his 
capital  16 


SURPRISE  OF  ALHAMA. 


24I 


The  garrison  of  Alhama  viewed  with  astonishment  the 
sudden  departure  of  their  enemies;  but  their  wonder  was 
converted  into  joy,  when  they  beheld  the  bright  arms  and 
banners  of  their  countrymen,  gleaming  along  the  declivities 
of  the  mountains.  They  rushed  out  with  tumultuous  trans- 
port to  receive  them,  and  pour  forth  their  grateful  acknowl- 
edgements, while  the  two  commanders,  embracing  each  other 
in  the  presence  of  their  united  armies,  pledged  themselves 
to  a mutual  oblivion  of  all  past  grievances;  thus  affording  to 
the  nation  the  best  possible  earnest  of  future  successes,  in 
the  voluntary  extinction  of  a feud,  which  had  desolated  it  for 
so  many  generations. 

Notwithstanding  the  kindly  feelings  excited  between  the 
two  armies,  a dispute  had  wellnigh  arisen  respecting  the 
division  of  the  spoil,  in  which  the  duke’s  army  claimed  a 
share,  as  having  contributed  to  secure  the  conquest  which 
their  more  fortunate  countrymen  had  effected.  But  these 
discontents  were  appeased,  though  with  some  difficulty,  by 
their  noble  leader,  who  besought  his  men  not  to  tarnish  the 
laurels  already  won,  by  mingling  a sordid  avarice  with  the 
generous  motives  which  had  prompted  them  to  the  expedi- 
tion. After  the  necessary  time  devoted  to  repose  and  re- 
freshment, the  combined  armies  proceeded  to  evacuate 
Alhama,  and  having  left  in  garrison  Don  Diego  Merlo,  with 
a corps  of  troops  of  the  hermandad,  returned  into  their  own 
territories.17 

King  Ferdinand,  after  receiving  the  reply  of  the  duke  of 
Medina  Sidonia,  had  pressed  forward  his  march  by  the  way 
of  Cordova,  as  far  as  Lucena,  with  the  intention  of  throwing 
himself  at  all  hazards  into  Alhama.  He  was  not  without 
much  difficulty  dissuaded  from  this  by  his  nobles,  who  repre- 
sented the  temerity  of  the  enterprise,  and  its  incompetency 
to  any  good  result,  even  should  he  succeed,  with  the  small 
force  of  which  he  was  master.  On  receiving  intelligence 
that  the  siege  was  raised,  he  returned  to  Cordova,  where  he 
was  joined  by  the  queen  toward  the  latter  part  of  April. 
Isabella  had  been  employed  in  making  vigorous  preparation 
for  carrying  on  the  war,  by  enforcing  the  requisite  supplies, 
and  summoning  the  crown  vassals,  and  the  principal  nobility 
of  the  north,  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  to  join  the  royal 
standard  in  Andalusia.  After  this,  she  proceeded  by  rapid 
stages  to  Cordova,  notwithstanding  the  state  of  pregnancy,  in 
which  she  was  then  far  advanced. 

Here  the  sovereigns  received  the  unwelcome  information, 
that  the  king  of  Granada,  on  the  retreat  of  the  Spaniards, 
Vol.  I. — I Tt 


242 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


had  again  sat  down  before  Alhama  having  brought  with  him 
artillery,  from  the  want  of  which  he  had  suffered  so  much 
in  the  preceding  siege.  This  news  struck  a damp  into  the 
hearts  of  the  Castilians,  many  of  whom  recommended  the 
total  evacuation  of  a place,  “which’ ’ they  said,  “was  so  near 
the  capital  that  it  must  be  perpetually  exposed  to  sudden 
and  dangerous  assaults,  while,  from  the  difficulty  of  reaching 
it,  it  would  cost  the  Castilians  an  incalculable  waste  of  blood 
and  treasure  in  its  defence.  It  was  experience  of  these 
evils,  which  had  led  to  its  abandonment  in  former  days, 
when  it  had  been  recovered  by  the  Spanish  arms  from  the 
Saracens.’’ 

Isabella  was  far  from  being  shaken  by  these  arguments. 
“Glory,’’  she  said,  “was  not  to  be  won  without  danger.  The 
present  war  was  one  of  peculiar  difficulties  and  danger,  and 
these  had  been  well  calculated  before  entering  upon  it.  The 
strong  and  central  position  of  Alhama  made  it  of  the  last 
importance,  since  it  might  be  regarded  as  the  key  of  the 
enemy’s  country.  This  was  the  first  blow  struck  during  the 
war,  and  honor  and  policy  alike  forbade  them  to  adopt  a 
measure,  which  could  not  fail  to  damp  the  ardor  of  the  nation.  ’ ’ 
This  opinion  of  the  queen,  thus  decisively  expressed,  deter- 
mined the  question,  and  kindled  a spark  of  her  own  enthu- 
siasm in  the  breasts  of  the  most  desponding.18 

It  was  settled  that  the  king  should  march  to  the  relief  of 
the  besieged,  taking  with  him  the  most  ample  supplies  of 
forage  and  provisions,  at  the  head  of  a force  strong  enough 
to  compel  the  retreat  of  the  Moorish  monarch.  This  was 
effected  without  delay;  and,  Abul  Hacen  once  more  breaking 
up  his  camp  on  the  rumor  of  Ferdinand’s  approach,  the  latter 
took  possession  of  the  city  without  opposition,  on  the  14th  of 
May.  The  king  was  attended  by  a splendid  train  of  his  pre- 
lates and  principal  nobility;  and  he  prepared  with  their  aid 
to  dedicate  his  new  conquest  to  the  service  of  the  cross,  with 
all  the  formalities  of  the  Romish  church.  After  the  ceremony 
of  purification,  the  three  principal  mosques  of  the  city  were 
consecrated  by  the  cardinal  of  Spain,  as  temples  of  Christian 
worship.  Bells,  crosses,  a sumptuous  service  of  plate,  and 
other  sacred  utensils,  were  liberally  furnished  by  the  queen; 
and  the  principal  church  of  Santa  Maria  de  la  Encarnacion 
long  exhibited  a covering  of  the  altar,  richly  embroidered  by 
her  own  hands.  Isabella  lost  no  opportunity  of  manifesting, 
that  she  had  entered  into  the  war,  less  from  motives  of  ambi- 
tion, than  of  zeal  for  the  exaltation  of  the  true  faith.  After  the 
completion  of  these  ceremonies,  Ferdinand,  having  strength- 


SURPRISE  OF  ALHAMA. 


24  3 


ened  the  garrison  with  new  recruits  under  the  command  of 
Portocarrero,  lord  of  Palma,  and  victualled  it  with  three 
months’  provisions,  prepared  for  a foray  into  the  vega  of 
Granada.  This  he  executed  in  the  true  spirit  of  that  merci- 
less warfare,  so  repugnant  to  the  more  civilized  usage  of  later 
times,  not  only  by  sweeping  away  the  green,  unripened  crops, 
but  by  cutting  down  the  trees,  and  eradicating  the  vines; 
and  then,  without  so  much  as  having  broken  a lance  in  the 
expedition,  returned  in  triumph  to  Cordova.19 

Isabella  in  the  mean  while  was  engaged  in  active  measures 
for  prosecuting  the  war.  She  issued  orders  to  the  various 
cities  of  Castile  and  Leon,  as  far  as  the  borders  of  Biscay 
and  Guipuscoa,  prescribing  the  repartimiento , or  subsidy  of* 
provisions,  and  the  quota  of  troops,  to  be  furnished  by  each 
district  respectively,  together  with  an  adequate  supply  of 
ammunition  and  artillery.  The  whole  were  to  be  in  readiness 
before  Loja,  by  the  ist  of  July;  when  Ferdinand  was  to  take 
the  field  in  person  at  the  head  of  his  chivalry,  and  besiege 
that  strong  post.  As  advices  were  received,  that  the  Moors 
of  Granada  were  making  efforts  to  obtain  the  cooperation  of 
their  African  brethren  in  support  of  the  Mahometan  empire 
in  Spain,  the  queen  caused  a fleet  to  be  manned  under  the 
command  of  her  two  best  admirals,  with  instructions  to  sweep 
the  Mediterranean  as  far  as  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  thus 
effectually  cut  off  all  communication  with  the  Barbary  coast.20 


CHAPTER  X. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. — UNSUCCESSFUL  ATTEMPT  ON  LOJA. — 
DEFEAT  IN  THE  AXARQUIA. 

1482 1483. 

Unsuccessful  Attempt  on  Loja. — Revolution  in  Granada. — Expedition  to 
the  Axarquia. — Military  Array. — Moorish  Preparations. — Bloody  Con- 
flict among  the  Mountains. — The  Spaniards  force  a Passage. — The 
Marquis  of  Cadiz  escapes. 

Loja  stands  not  many  leagues  from  Alhama,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Xenil,  which  rolls  its  clear  current  through  a valley 
luxuriant  with  vineyards  and  olive-gardens;  but  the  city  is 
deeply  intrenched  among  hills  of  so  rugged  an  aspect,  that  it 
has  been  led  not  inappropriately  to  assume  as  the  motto  on 
its  arms,  “ A flower  among  thorns.”  Under  the  Moors,  it 
was  defended  by  a strong  fortress,  while  the  Xenil,  circum- 
scribing it  like  a deep  moat  upon  the  south,  formed  an  excel- 
lent rampart  against  the  approaches  of  a besieging  army; 
since  the  river  was  fordable  only  in  one  place,  and  traversed 
by  a single  bridge,  which  might  be  easily  commanded  bv  the 
city.  In  addition  to  these  advantages,  the  king  of  Granada, 
taking  warning  from  the  fate  of  Alhama,  had  strengthened 
its  garrison  with  three  thousand  of  his  choicest  troops,  under 
the  command  of  a skilful  and  experienced  warrior,  named 
Ali  Atar.1 

In  the  mean  while,  the  efforts  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns  to 
procure  supplies  adequate  to  the  undertaking  against  Loja, 
had  not  been  crowned  with  success.  The  cities  and  districts 
of  which  the  requisitions  had  been  made,  had  discovered  the 
tardiness  usual  in  such  unwieldy  bodies,  and  their  interest, 
moreover,  was  considerably  impaired  by  their  distance  from  the 
theatre  of  action.  Ferdinand  on  mustering  his  army,  toward 
the  latter  part  of  June,  found  that  it  did  not  exceed  four 
thousand  horse  and  twelve  thousand,  or  indeed,  according  to 
some  accounts,  eight  thousand  foot;  most  of  them  raw  militia, 
who,  poorly  provided  with  military  stores  and  artillery, 
formed  a force  obviously  inadequate  to  the  magnitude  of  hi** 


ROUT  IN  THE  AXARQUIA. 


245 


enterprise.  Some  of  his  counsellors  would  have  persuaded 
him,  from  these  considerations,  to  turn  his  arms  against  some 
weaker  and  more  assailable  point  than  Loja.  But  Ferdinand 
burned  with  a desire  for  distinction  in  the  new  war,  and  suf- 
fered his  ardor  for  once  to  get  the  better  of  his  prudence. 
The  distrust  felt  by  the  leaders  seems  to  have  infected  the 
lower  ranks,  who  drew  the  most  unfavorable  prognostics  from 
the  dejected  mien  of  those  who  bore  the  royal  standard  to  the 
cathedral  of  Cordova,  in  order  to  receive  the  benediction  of 
the  church  before  entering  on  the  expedition.2 

Ferdinand,  crossing  the  Xenil  at  Ecija,  arrived  again  on 
its  banks  before  Loja,  on  the  ist  of  July.  The  army  en- 
camped among  the  hills,  whose  deep  ravines  obstructed  com- 
munication between  its  different  quarters;  while  the  level 
plains  below  were  intersected  by  numerous  canals,  equally 
unfavorable  to  the  manoeuvres  of  the  men-at-arms.  The 
duke  of  Villa  Hermosa,  the  king’s  brother,  and  captain- 
general  of  the  hermandad,  an  officer  of  large  experience, 
would  have  persuaded  Ferdinand  to  attempt,  by  throwing 
bridges  across  the  river  lower  down  the  stream,  to  approach  the 
city  on  the  other  side.  But  his  counsel  was  overruled  by  the 
Castilian  officers,  to  whom  the  location  of  the  camp  had  been 
intrusted,  and  who  neglected,  according  to  Zurita,  to  advise 
with  the  Andalusian  chiefs,  although  far  better  instructed 
than  themselves  in  Moorish  warfare.3 

A large  detachment  of  the  army  was  ordered  to  occupy  a 
lofty  eminence,  at  some  distance,  called  the  Heights  of  Albo- 
hacen,  and  to  fortify  it  with  such  few  pieces  of  ordnance  as 
they  had,  with  the  view  of  annoying  the  city.  This  commis- 
sion was  intrusted  to  the  marquises  of  Cadiz  and  Villena,  and 
the  grand  master  of  Calatrava;  which  last  nobleman  had 
brought  to  the  field  about  four  hundred  horse  and  a large 
body  of  infantry  from  the  places  belonging  to  his  order  in 
Andalusia.  Before  the  intrenchment  could  be  fully  com- 
pleted, AH  Atar,  discerning  the  importance  of  this  command- 
ing station,  made  a sortie  from  the  town,  for  the  purpose  of 
dislodging  his  enemies.  The  latter  poured  out  from  their 
works  to  encounter  him;  but  the  Moslem  general,  scarcely 
waiting  to  receive  the  shock,  wheeled  his  squadrons  round, 
and  began  a precipitate  retreat.  The  Spaniards  eagerly  pur- 
sued; but,  when  they  had  been  drawn  to  a sufficient  distance 
from  the  redoubt,  a party  of  Moorish  ginetes , or  light  cavalry, 
who  had  crossed  the  river  unobserved  during  the  night  and 
lain  in  ambush,  after  the  wily  fashion  of  Arabian  tactics, 

$ed  from  their  place  of  concealment,  and  galloping  into 


246 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


the  deserted  camp,  plundered  it  of  its  contents,  including  the 
lombards,  or  small  pieces  of  artillery,  with  which  it  was  gar- 
nished. The  Castilians,  too  late  perceiving  their  error,  halted 
from  the  pursuit,  and  returned  with  as  much  speed  as  possible 
to  the  defence  of  their  camp.  Ali  Atar,  turning  also,  hung 
close  on  their  rear,  so  that,  when  the  Christians  arrived  at 
the  summit  of  the  hill,  they  found  themselves  hemmed  in 
between  the  two  divisions  of  the  Moorish  army.  A brisk  action 
now  ensued,  and  lasted  nearly  an  hour;  when  the  advance 
of  reinforcements  from  the  main  body  of  the  Spanish  army, 
which  had  been  delayed  by  distance  and  impediments  on  the 
road,  compelled  the  Moors  to  a prompt  but  orderly  retreat 
into  their  own  city.  The  Christians  sustained  a heavy  loss, 
particularly  in  the  death  of  Rodrigo  Tellez  Giron,  grand 
master  of  Calatrava.  He  was  hit  by  two  arrows,  the  last  of 
which,  penetrating  the  joints  of  his  harness  beneath  his  sword- 
arm,  as  he  was  in  the  act  of  raising  it,  inflicted  on  him  a 
mortal  wound,  of  which  he  expired  in  a few  hours,  says  an 
old  chronicler,  after  having  confessed,  and  performed  the 
last  duties  of  a good  and  faithful  Christian.  Although 
scarcely  twenty- four  years  of  age,  this  cavalier  had  given 
proofs  of  such  signal  prowess,  that  he  was  esteemed  one  of 
the  best  knights  of  Castile;  and  his  death  threw  a general 
gloom  over  the  army.4 

Ferdinand  now  became  convinced  of  the  unsuitableness  of 
a position,  which  neither  admitted  of  easy  communication 
between  the  different  quarters  of  his  own  camp,  nor  enabled 
him  to  intercept  the  supplies  daily  passing  into  that  of  his 
enemy.  Other  inconveniences  also  pressed  on  him.  His 
men  were  so  badly  provided  with  the  necessary  utensils  for 
dressing  their  food,  that  they  were  obliged  either  to  devour 
it  raw,  or  only  half  cooked.  Most  of  them  being  new  re- 
cruits, unaccustomed  to  the  privations  of  war,  and  many  ex- 
hausted by  a wearisome  length  of  march  before  joining  the 
army,  they  began  openly  to  murmur,  and  even  to  desert  in 
great  numbers.  Ferdinand  therefore  resolved  to  fall  back 
as  far  as  Rio  Frio,  and  await  there  patiently  the  arrival  of 
such  fresh  reinforcements  as  might  put  him  in  condition  to 
enforce  a more  rigorous  blockade. 

Orders  were  accordingly  issued  to  the  cavaliers  occupying 
the  Heights  of  Albohacen  to  break  up  their  camp,  and  join 
themselves  to  the  main  body  of  the  army.  This  was  exe- 
cuted on  the  following  morning  before  dawn,  being  the  4th 
of  July.  No  sooner  did  the  Moors  of  Loja  perceive  their 
enemy  abandoning  his  strong  position,  than  they  sallied  fosf^u 


ROUT  IN  THE  AX ARQUIA. 


247 

in  considerable  force  to  take  possession  of  it.  Ferdinand's 
men,  who  had  not  been  advised  of  the  proposed  manoeuvre, 
no  sooner  beheld  the  Moorish  array  brightening  the  crest  of 
the  mountain,  and  their  own  countrymen  rapidly  descending, 
than  they  imagined  that  these  latter  had  been  surprised  in 
their  intrenchments  during  the  night,  and  were  now  flying 
before  the  enemy.  An  alarm  instantly  spread  through  the 
whole  camp.  Instead  of  standing  to  their  defence,  each  one 
thought  only  of  saving  himself  by  as  speedy  a flight  as  pos- 
sible. In  vain  did  Ferdinand,  riding  along  their  broken 
flies,  endeavor  to  reanimate  their  spirits  and  restore  order. 
He  might  as  easily  have  calmed  the  winds,  as  the  disorder  of 
a panic-struck  mob,  unschooled  by  discipline  or  experience. 
All  Atar’s  practised  eye  speedily  discerned  the  confusion 
which  prevailed  through  the  Christian  camp.  Without  delay, 
he  rushed  forth  impetuously  at  the  head  of  his  whole  array 
from  the  gates  of  Loja,  and  converted  into  a real  danger, 
what  had  before  been  only  an  imaginary  one.5 

At  this  perilous  moment,  nothing  but  Ferdinand’s  coolness 
could  have  saved  the  army  from  total  destruction.  Putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  royal  guard,  and  accompanied  by 
a gallant  band  of  cavaliers,  who  held  honor  dearer  than  life, 
he  made  such  a determined  stand  against  the  Moorish  ad- 
vance, that  the  Ali  Atar  was  compelled  to  pause  in  his  career. 
A furious  struggle  ensued  betwixt  this  devoted  little  band 
and  the  whole  strength  of  the  Moslem  army.  Ferdinand 
was  repeatedly  exposed  to  imminent  peril.  On  one  occasion 
he  was  indebted  for  his  safety  to  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  who, 
charging  at  the  head  of  about  sixty  lances,  broke  the  deep 
ranks  of  the  Moorish  column,  and  compelling  it  to  recoil, 
succeeded  in  rescuing  his  sovereign.  In  this  adventure,  he 
narrowly  escaped  with  his  own  life,  his  horse  being  shot 
under  him,  at  the  very  moment  when  he  had  lost  his  lance 
in  the  body  of  a Moor.  Never  did  the  Spanish  chivalry 
shed  its  blood  more  freely.  The  constable,  count  de  Haro, 
received  three  wounds  in  the  face.  The  duke  of  Medina 
Celi  was  unhorsed  and  brought  to  the  ground,  and  saved 
with  difficulty  by  his  own  men;  and  the  count  of  Tendilla, 
whose  encampment  lay  nearest  the  city,  received  several 
severe  blows,  and  would  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  aid  of  his  friend,  the 
young  count  of  Zuniga. 

The  Moors,  finding  it  so  difficult  to  make  an  impression  on 
this  iron  band  of  warriors,  began  at  length  to  slacken  their 
efforts,  and  finally  allowed  Ferdinand  to  draw  off  the  remnant 


248 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


of  his  forces  without  further  opposition.  The  king  continued 
his  retreat  without  halting,  as  far  as  the  romantic  site  of  the 
Pena  de  los  Enamorados,  about  seven  leagues  distant  from 
Loja;  and,  abandoning  all  thoughts  of  offensive  operations 
for  the  present,  soon  after  returned  to  Cordova.  Muley 
Abul  Hacen  arrived  the  following  day  with  a powerful  rein- 
forcement from  Granada,  and  swept  the  country  as  far  as  Rio 
Frio.  Had  he  come  but  a few  hours  sooner,  there  would  have 
been  few  Spaniards  left  to  tell  the  tale  of  the  rout  of  Loja.6 

The  loss  of  the  Christians  must  have  been  very  consider- 
able, including  the  greater  part  of  the  baggage  and  the  artil- 
lery. It  occasioned  deep  mortification  to  the  queen;  but, 
though  a severe,  it  proved  a salutary  lesson.  It  showed  the 
importance  of  more  extensive  preparations  for  a war,  which 
must  of  necessity  be  a war  of  posts;  and  it  taught  the  nation 
to  entertain  greater  respect  for  an  enemy,  who,  whatever 
might  be  his  natural  strength,  must  become  formidable  when 
armed  with  the  energy  of  despair. 

At  this  juncture,  a division  among  the  Moors  themselves 
did  more  for  the  Christians,  than  any  successes  of  their  own. 
This  division  .grew  out  of  the  vicious  system  of  polygamy, 
which  sows  the  seeds  of  disorder  among  those,  whom  nature 
and  our  own  happier  institutions  unite  most  closely.  The 
old  king  of  Granada  had  become  so  deeply  enamoured  of  a 
Greek  slave,  that  the  Sultana  Zoraya,  jealous  lest  the  offspring 
of  her  rival  should  supplant  her  own  in  the  succession,  secretly 
contrived  to  stir  up  a spirit  of  discontent  with  her  hus- 
band’s government.  The  king,  becoming  acquainted  with  her 
intrigues,  caused  her  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  fortress  of  the 
Alhambra.  But  the  sultana,  binding  together  the  scarfs  and 
veils  belonging  to  herself  and  attendants,  succeeded,  by  means 
of  this  perilous  conveyance,  in  making  her  escape,  together 
with  her  children,  from  the  upper  apartments  of  the  tower 
in  which  she  was  lodged.  She  was  received  with  joy  by  her 
own  faction.  The  insurrection  soon  spread  among  the  popu- 
lace, who,  yielding  to  the  impulses  of  nature,  are  readily 
roused  by  a tale  of  oppression;  and  the  number  was  still 
further  swelled  by  many  of  higher  rank,  who  had  various 
causes  of  disgust  with  the  oppressive  government  of  Abul 
Hacen.7  The  strong  fortress  of  the  Alhambra,  however, 
remained  faithful  to  him.  A war  now  burst  forth  in  the 
capital  which  deluged  its  streets  with  the  blood  of  its  citizens. 
At  length  the  sultana  triumphed;  Abul  Hacen  was  expelled 
from  Granada,  and  sought  a refuge  in  Malaga,  which,  with 
Baza.  Guadix,  and  some  other  places  of  importance,  still  ad- 


ROUT  IN  THE  AXARQUIA. 


249 


hered  to  him;  while  Granada,  and  by  far  the  larger  portion 
of  the  kingdom  proclaimed  the  authority  of  his  elder  son, 
Abu  Abdallah,  or  Boabcbl;  as  he  is  usually  called  by  the 
Castilian  writers.  The  Spanish  sovereigns  viewed  with  no 
small  interest  these  proceedings  of  the  Moors,  who  were  thus 
wantonly  fighting  the  battles  of  their  enemies.  All  proffers 
of  assistance  on  their  part,  however,  being  warily  rejected  by 
both  factions,  notwithstanding  the  mutual  hatred  of  each 
other,  they  could  only  await  with  patience  the  termination 
of  a struggle,  which,  whatever  might  be  its  results  in  other 
respects,  could  not  fail  to  open  the  way  for  the  success  of 
their  own  arms.8 

No  military  operations  worthy  of  notice  occurred  during 
the  remainder  of  the  campaign,  except  occasional  cavalgadas 
or  inroads,  on  both  sides,  which,  after  the  usual  unspairing 
devastation,  swept  away  whole  herds  of  cattle,  and  human 
beings,  the  wretched  cultivators  of  the  soil.  The  quantity  of 
booty  frequently  carried  off  on  such  occasions,  amounting, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  both  Christians  and  Moorish 
writers,  to  twenty,  thirty,  and  even  fifty  thousand  head  of 
cattle,  shows  the  fruitfulness  and  abundant  pasturage  in  the 
southern  regions  of  the  Peninsula.  The  loss  inflicted  by  these 
terrible  forays  fell,  eventually,  most  heavily  on  Granada,  in 
consequence  of  her  scanty  territory  and  insulated  position, 
which  cut  her  off  from  all  foreign  resources. 

Toward  the  latter  end  of  October,  the  court  passed  from 
Cordova  to  Madrid,  with  the  intention  of  remaining  there  the 
ensuing  winter.  Madrid,  it  may  be  observed,  however,  was 
so  far  from  being  recognized  as  the  capital  of  the  monarchy 
at  this  time,  that  it  was  inferior  to  several  other  cities,  in 
wealth  and  population,  and  was  even  less  frequented  than 
some  others,  as  Valladolid  for  example,  as  a royal  residence. 

On  the  1st  of  July,  while  the  court  was  at  Cordova,  died 
Alfonso  de  Carillo,  the  factious  archbishop  of  Toledo,  who 
contributed  more  than  any  other  to  raise  Isabella  to  the 
throne,  and  who,  with  the  same  arm,  had  wellnigh  hurled  her 
from  it.  He  passed  the  close  of  his  life  in  retirement  and 
disgrace  at  his  town  of  Alcala  de  Henares,  where  he  devoted 
himself  to  science,  especially  to  alchymy;  in  which  illusory 
pursuit  he  is  said  to  have  squandered  his  princely  revenues 
with  such  prodigality,  as  to  leave  them  encumbered  with  a 
heavy  debt,  tie  was  succeeded  in  the  primacy  by  his  an- 
cient rival,  Don  Pedro  Gonzalez  de  Mendoza,  cardinal  of 
Spain;  a prelate  whose  enlarged  and  sagacious  views  gained 
him  deserved  ascendency  in  the  councils  of  his  sovereigns.9 

11* 


-5° 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


The  importance  of  their  domestic  concerns  did  not  prevent 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  from  giving  a vigilant  attention  to 
what  was  passing  abroad.  The  conflicting  relations  growing 
out  of  the  feudal  system  occupied  most  princes,  till  the  close 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  too  closely  at  home  to  allow  them 
often  to  turn  their  eyes  beyond  the  borders  of  their  own  ter- 
ritories. This  system  was,  indeed,  now  rapildly  melting  away. 
But  Louis  the  Eleventh  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  the  first 
monarch,  who  showed  any  thing  like  an  extended  interest 
in  European  politics.  He  informed  himself  of  the  interior 
proceedings  of  most  of  the  neighboring  courts,  by  means  of 
secret  agents  whom  he  pensioned  there.  Ferdinand  obtained 
a similar  result  by  the  more  honorable  expedient  of  resident 
embassies,  a practice,  which  he  is  said  to  have  introduced,10 
and  which,  while  it  has  greatly  facilitated  commercial  inter- 
course, has  served  to  perpetuate  friendly  relations  between 
different  countries,  by  accustoming  them  to  settle  their  dif- 
ferences by  negotiation  rather  than  the  sword. 

The  position  of  the  Italian  states,  at  this  period,  whose 
petty  feuds  seemed  to  blind  them  to  the  invasion  which  men- 
aced them  from  the  Ottoman  empire,  was  such  as  to  excite  a 
lively  interest  throughout  Christendom,  and  especially  in 
Ferdinand,  as  sovereign  of  Sicily.  He  succeeded,  by  means 
of  his  ambassadors  at  the  papal  court,  in  opening  a negotia- 
tion between  the  belligerents,  and  in  finally  adjusting  the 
terms  of  a general  pacification,  signed  December  12th,  1842. 
The  Spanish  court,  in  consequence  of  its  friendly  mediation 
on  this  occasion,  received  three  several  embassies  with  suita- 
ble acknowledgments,  on  the  part  of  the  pope  Sixtus  the 
Fourth,  the  college  of  cardinals,  and  the  city  of  Rome;  and 
certain  marks  of  distinction  were  conferred  by  his  Holiness 
on  the  Castilian  envoys,  not  enjoyed  by  those  of  any  other 
potentate.  This  event  is  worthy  of  notice  as  the  first  in- 
stance of  Ferdinand’s  interference  in  the  politics  of  Italy,  in 
which  at  a later  period  he  was  destined  to  act  so  prominent 
a part.11 

The  affairs  of  Navarre  at  this  time,  were  such  as  to  engage 
still  more  deeply  the  attention  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns. 
The  crown  of  that  kingdom  had  devolved,  on  the  death  of 
Leonora,  the  guilty  sister  of  Ferdinand,  on  her  grandchild, 
Francis  Phoebus,  whose  mother,  Magdeleine  of  France,  held 
the  reins  of  government  during  her  son’s  minority.12  The 
relationship  of  this  princess  to  Louis  the  Eleventh,  gave  that 
monarch  an  absolute  influence  in  the  councils  of  Navarre. 
He  made  use  of  this  to  bring  about  a marriage  between  the 


ROUT  IN  THE  AXARQUIA. 


2 5 1 

young  king,  Francis  Phoebus,  and  Joanna  Beltraneja,  Isa- 
bella’s former  competitor  for  the  crown  of  Castile,  notwith- 
standing this  princess  had  long  since  taken  the  veil  in  the 
convent  of  Santa  Clara  at  Coimbra.  It  is  not  easy  to  unravel 
the  tortuous  politics  of  King  Louis.  The  Spanish  writers 
impute  to  him  the  design  of  enabling  Joanna  by  this  alliance 
to  establish  her  pretensions  to  the  Castilian  throne,  or  at 
least  to  give  such  employment  to  its  present  proprietors,  as 
should  effectually  prevent  them  from  disturbing  him  in  the 
possession  of  Roussillon.  However  this  may  be,  his  intrigues 
with  Portugal  were  disclosed  to  Ferdinand  by  certain  nobles 
of  that  court,  with  whom  he  was  in  secret  correspondence. 
The  Spanish  sovereigns,  in  order  to  counteract  this  scheme, 
offered  the  hand  of  their  own  daughter  Joanna,  afterwards 
mother  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  to  the  king  of  Navarre.  But  all 
negotiations  relative  to  this  matter  were  eventually  defeated 
by  the  sudden  death  of  this  young  prince,  not  without  strong 
suspicions  of  poison.  He  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  by 
his  sister  Catharine.  Propositions  were  then  made  by  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  for  the  marriage  of  this  princess,  then 
thirteen  years  of  age,  with  their  infant  son  John,  heir  appar- 
ent of  their  united  monarchies.13  Such  an  alliance,  which 
would  bring  under  one  government  nations  corresponding  in 
origin,  language,  general  habits,  and  local  interests,  presented 
great  and  obvious  advantages.  It  was  however  evaded  by  the 
queen  dowager,  who  still  acted  as  regent,  on  the  pretext  of 
disparity  of  age  in  the  parties.  Information  being  soon  after 
received  that  Louis  the  Eleventh  was  taking  measures  to 
make  himself  master  of  the  strong  places  in  Navarre,  Isabella 
transferred  her  residence  to  the  frontier  town  of  Logrono, 
prepared  to  resist  by  arms,  if  necessary,  the  occupation  of 
that  country  by  her  insidious  and  powerful  neighbor.  The 
death  of  the  king  of  France,  which  occurred  not  long  after, 
fortunately  relieved  the  sovereigns  from  apprehensions  of 
any  immediate  annoyance  on  that  quarter.14 

Amid  their  manifold  concerns,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
kept  their  thoughts  anxiously  bent  on  their  great  enterprise, 
the  conquest  of  Granada.  At  a congress  general  of  the  depu- 
ties of  the  herrnandad,  held  at  Pinto,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  present  year,  1483,  with  the  view  of  reforming  certain 
abuses  in  that  institution,  a liberal  grant  was  made  of  eight 
thousand  men,  and  sixteen  thousand  beasts  of  burden,  for 
the  purpose  of  conveying  supplies  to  the  garrison  in  Alhama. 
But  the  sovereigns  experienced  great  embarrassment  from 
the  want  of  funds.  There  is  probably  no  period  in  v/hich  the 


252 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


princes  of  Europe  felt  so  sensibly  their  own  penury,  as  at  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century;  when,  the  demesnes  of  the 
crown  having  been  very  generally  wasted  by  the  lavishness 
or  imbecility  of  its  proprietors,  no  substitute  had  as  yet  been 
found  in  that  searching  and  well-arranged  system  of  taxation, 
which  prevails  at  the  present  day.  The  Spanish  sovereigns, 
notwithstanding  the  economy  which  they  had  introduced  into 
the  finances,  felt  the  pressure  of  these  embarrassments,  pe- 
culiarly, at  the  present  juncture.  The  maintenance  of  the 
royal  guard  and  of  the  vast  national  police  of  the  hermandad, 
the  incessant  military  operations  of  the  late  campaign,  to- 
gether with  the  equipment  of  a navy*  not  merely  for  war,  but 
for  maritime  discovery,  where  so  many  copious  drains  of 
the  exchequer.15  Under  these  circumstances,  they  obtained 
from  the  pope  a grant  of  one  hundred  thousand  ducats,  to  be 
raised  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  in  Castile  and  Ara- 
gon. A bull  of  crusade  was  also  published  by  his  Holiness, 
containing  numerous  indulgences  for  such  as  should  bear 
arms  against  the  infidel,  as  well  as  those  who  should  prefer 
to  commute  their  military  service  for  the  payment  of  a sum 
of  money.  In  addition  to  these  resources,  the  government 
was  enabled  on  its  own  credit,  justified  by  the  punctuality 
with  which  it  had  redeemed  its  past  engagements,  to  nego- 
tiate considerable  loans  with  wealthy  individuals.16 

With  these  funds  the  sovereigns  entered  into  extensive 
arrangements  for  the  ensuing  campaign;  causing  cannon, 
after  the  rude  construction  of  that  age,  to  be  fabricated  at 
Huesca,  and  a large  quantity  of  stone  balls,  then  principally 
used,  to  be  manufactured  in  the  Sierra  de  Constantina;  while 
the  magazines  were  carefully  provided  with  ammunition  and 
military  stores. 

An  event  not  unworthy  of  notice  is  recorded  by  Pulgar,  as 
happening  about  this  time.  A common  soldier,  named  John 
de  Corral,  contrived  under  false  pretences,  to  obtain  from 
the  king  of  Granada  a number  of  Christian  captives,  together 
with  a large  sum  of  money,  with  which  he  escaped  into  Anda- 
lusia. The  man  was  apprehended  by  the  warden  of  the 
frontier  of  Jaen;  and,  the  transaction  being  reported  to  the 
sovereigns,  they  compelled  an  entire  restitution  of  the  money, 
and  consented  to  such  a ransom  for  the  liberated  Christians  as 
the  king  of  Granada  should  demand.  This  act  of  justice,  it 
should  be  remembered,  occurred  in  an  age  when  the  church 
itself  stood  ready  to  sanction  any  breach  of  faith,  however 
glaring,  toward  heretics  and  infidels.17 

While  the  court  was  detained  in  the  north,  tidings  were 


ROUT  IN  THE  AXARQUIA. 


253 


received  of  a reverse  sustained  by  the  Spanish  arms,  which 
plunged  the  nation  in  sorrow  far  deeper  than  that  occasioned 
by  the  rout  at  Loja.  Don  Alonso  de  Cardenas,  grand  master 
of  St.  James,  an  old  and  confidential  servant  of  the  crown, 
had  been  intrusted  with  the  defence  of  the  frontier  of  Ecija. 
While  on  this  station,  he  was  strongly  urged  to  make  a descent 
on  the  environs  of  Malaga,  by  his  adalides  or  scouts,  men 
who,  being  for  the  most  part  Moorish  deserters  renegadoes, 
were  employed  by  the  border  chiefs  to  reconnoitre  the  ene- 
my’s country,  or  to  guide  them  in  their  marauding  expedi- 
tions.18 The  district  around  Malaga  was  famous  under  the 
Saracens  for  its  silk  manufactures,  of  which  it  annually 
made  large  exports  to  other  parts  of  Europe.  It  was  to 
be  approached  by  traversing  a savage  sierra,  or  chain  of 
mountains,  called  the  Axarquia,  whose  margin  occasionally 
afforded  good  pasturage,  and  was  sprinkled  over  with  Moor- 
ish villages.  After  threading  its  defiles,  it  was  proposed  to 
return  by  an  open  road  that  turned  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  sierra  along  the  sea-shore.  There  was  little  to  be  appre- 
hended, it  was  stated,  from  pursuit,  since  Malaga  was  almost 
wholly  unprovided  with  cavalry.19 

The  grand  master,  falling  in  with  the  proposition,  com- 
municated it  to  the  principal  chiefs  on  the  borders;  among 
others,  to  Don  Pedro  Henriquez,  adelantado  of  Andalusia, 
Don  Juan  de  Silva,  count  of  Cifuentes,  Don  Alonzo  de 
Aguilar,  and  the  marquis  of  Cadiz.  These  nobleman,  col- 
lecting their  retainers  repaired  to  Antequera,  where  the  ranks 
were  quickly  swelled  by  recruits  from  Cordova,  Seville, 
Xerez,  and  other  cities  of  Andalusia,  whose  chivalry  always 
readily  answered  the  summons  to  an  expedition  over  the 
border.20 

In  the  mean  while,  however,  the  marquis  of  Cadiz  had  re- 
ceived such  intelligence  from  his  own  adalides , as  led  him  to 
doubt  the  expediency  of  a march  through  intricate  defiles, 
inhabited  by  a poor  and  hardy  peasantry;  and  he  strongly 
advised  to  direct  the  expedition  against  the  neighboring 
town  of  Almojia.  But  in  this  he  was  overruled  by  the  grand 
master  and  the  other  partners  of  his  enterprise;  many  of 
whom,  with  the  rash  confidence  of  youth,  were  excited  rather 
than  intimidated  by  the  prospect  of  danger. 

On  Wednesday,  the  19th  of  March,  this  gallant  little  army 
marched  forth  from  the  gates  of  Antequera.  The  van  was 
intrusted  to  the  adelantado  Henriquez  and  Don  Alonso  de 
Aguilar.  The  centre  divisions  were  led  by  the  marquis  of 
Cadiz  and  the  count  of  Cifuentes,  and  the  rear-guard,  by  the 


254 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


grand  master  of  St.  James.  The  number  of  foot,  which  is 
uncertain,  appears  to  have  been  considerably  less  than  that 
of  the  horse,  which  amounted  to  about  three  thousand,  con- 
taining the  flower  of  Andalusian  knighthood,  together  with  the 
array  of  St.  James,  the  most  opulent  and  powerful  of  the 
Spanish  military  orders.  Never,  says  an  Aragonese  historian, 
had  there  been  seen  in  these  times  a more  splendid  body  of 
chivalry;  and  such  was  their  confidence,  he  adds,  that  they 
deemed  themselves  invincible  by  any  force  which  the  Moslems 
could  bring  aginst  them.  The  leaders  took  care  not  to  en- 
cumber the  movements  of  the  army  with  artillery,  camp 
equipage,  or  even  much  forage  and  provisions,  for  which  they 
trusted  to  the  invaded  territory.  A number  of  persons,  how- 
ever, followed  in  the  train,  who,  influenced  by  desire  rather 
of  gain  than  of  glory,  had  come  provided  with  money,  as 
well  as  commissions  from  their  friends,  for  the  purchase  of 
rich  spoil,  whether  of  slaves,  stuffs,  or  jewels,  which  they 
expected  would  be  won  by  the  good  swords  of  their  comrades, 
as  in  Alhama.21 

After  travelling  with  little  intermission  through  the  night, 
the  army  entered  the  winding  defiles  of  the  Axarquia;  where 
their  progress  was  necessarily  so  much  impeded  by  the  cha- 
racter of  the  ground,  that  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
villages,  through  which  they  passed, had  opportunity  to  escape 
with  the  greater  part  of  their  effects  to  the  inaccessible  fast- 
nesses of  the  mountains.  The  Spaniards,  after  plundering 
the  deserted  hamlets  of  whatever  remained,  as  well  as  of  the 
few  stragglers,  whether  men  or  cattle,  found  still  lingering 
about  them,  set  them  on  fire.  In  this  way  they  advanced, 
marking  their  line  of  march  with  the  usual  devastation  that 
accompanied  these  ferocious  forays,  until  the  columns  of 
smoke  and  fire,  which  rose  above  the  hill-tops,  announced  to 
the  people  of  Malaga  the  near  approach  of  an  enemy. 

The  old  king  Muley  Abul  Hacen,  who  lay  at  this  time  in  the 
city,  with  a numerous  and  well-appointed  body  of  horse,  con- 
trary to  the  reports  of  the  adalides,  would  have  rushed  forth 
at  once  at  their  head,  had  he  not  been  dissuaded  from  it  by 
his  younger  brother  Abdallah,  who  is  better  known  in  history 
by  the  name  of  El  Zagal,  or  “the  Valiant;”  an  Arabic  epithet, 
given  him  by  his  countrymen  to  distinguish  him  from  his 
nephew,  the  ruling  king  of  Granada.  To  this  prince  Abul 
Hacen  intrusted  the  command  of  the  corps  of  picked  cavalry, 
with  instructions  to  penetrate  at  once  into  the  lower  level  of 
the  sierra,  and  encounter  the  Christians  entangled  in  its  pas- 
ses; while  another  division,  consisting  chiefly  of  atquebusiers 


ROUT  IN  THE  AXARQUIA. 


255 


and  archers,  should  turn  the  enemy’s  flank  by  gaining  the 
heights  under  which  he  was  defiling.  This  last  corps  was 
placed  under  the  direction  of  Reduan  Benegas,  a chief  of 
Christian  lineage,  according  to  Bernaldez,  and  who  may  per- 
haps be  identified  with  the  Reduan,  that,  in  the  later  Moorish 
ballads,  seems  to  be  shadowed  forth  as  the  personification  of 
love  and  heroism.22 

The  Castilian  army  in  the  mean  time  went  forward  with  a 
buoyant  and  reckless  confidence,  and  with  very  little  subordi- 
nation. The  divisions  occupying  the  advance  and  centre, 
disappointed  in  their  expectations  of  booty,  had  quitted  the 
line  of  march,  and  dispersed  in  small  parties  in  search  of  plun- 
der over  the  adjacent  country;  and  some  of  the  high-mettled 
young  cavaliers  had  the  audacity  to  ride  up  in  defiance  to  the 
very  walls  of  Malaga.  The  grand  master  of  St.  James  was 
the  only  leader  who  kept  his  columns  unbroken,  and  marched 
forward  in  order  of  battle.  Things  were  in  this  state,  when 
the  Moorish  cavalry  under  El  Zagal,  suddenly  emerging  from 
one  of  the  mountain  passes,  appeared  before  the  astonished 
rear-guard  of  the  Christians.  The  Moors  spurred  on  to  the 
assault,  but  the  well  disciplined  chivalry  of  St.  James  re- 
mained unshaken.  In  the  fierce  struggle  which  ensued,  the 
Andalusians  became  embarrassed  by  the  narrowness  of  the 
ground  on  which  they  were  engaged,  which  afforded  no  scope 
for  the  manoeuvres  of  cavalry;  while  the  Moors,  trained  to 
the  wild  tactics  of  mountain  warfare,  went  through  their  usual 
evolutions,  retreating  and  returning  to  the  charge,  with  a 
celerity,  that  sorely  distressed  their  opponents  and  at  length 
threw  them  into  some  disorder.  The  grand  master  in  con- 
sequence, despatched  a message  to  the  marquis  of  Cadiz, 
requesting  his  support.  The  latter,  putting  himself  at  the 
head  of  such  of  his  scattered  forces  as  he  could  hastily  muster, 
readily  obeyed  the  summons.  Discerning  on  his  approach 
the  real  source  of  the  grand  master’s  embarrassment,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  changing  the  field  of  action  by  drawing  off  the 
Moors  to  an  open  reach  of  the  valley,  which  allowed  free  pla  > 
to  the  movements  of  the  Andalusian  horse,  when  the  com- 
bined squadrons  pressed  so  hard  on  the  Moslems,  that  they 
were  soon  compelled  to  take  refuge  within  the  depths  of  their 
own  mountains.23 

In  the  mean  while,  the  scattered  troops  of  the  advance, 
alarmed  by  the  report  of  the  action,  gradually  assembled 
under  their  respective  banners,  and  fell  back  upon  the  rear. 
A council  of  war  was  then  called.  All  further  progress 
seemed  to  be  effectually  intercepted.  The  country  was  every- 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


256 

where  in  arms.  The  most  that  could  now  be  hoped,  was, 
that  they  might  be  suffered  to  retire  unmolested  with  such 
plunder  as  they  had  already  acquired.  Two  routes  lay  open 
for  this  purpose.  The  one  winding  along  the  sea-shore,  wide 
and  level  but  circuitous,  and  swept  through  the  whole  range 
of  its  narrow  entrance  by  the  fortress  of  Malaga.  This  de- 
termined them  unhappily  to  prefer  the  other  route,  being  that 
by  which  they  had  penetrated  the  Axarquia,  or  rather  a 
shorter  cut,  by  which  the  adalides  undertook  to  conduct  them 
through  its  mazes.24 

The  little  army  commenced  its  retrograde  movement  with 
undiminished  spirit.  But  it  was  now  embarrassed  with  the 
transportation  of  its  plunder,  and  by  the  increasing  difficulties 
of  the  sierra,  which,  as  they  ascended  its  sides,  was  matted 
over  with  impenetrable  thickets,  and  broken  up  by  formidable 
ravines  or  channels,  cut  deep  into  the  soil  by  the  mountain 
torrents.  The  Moors  were  now  seen  mustering  in  consider- 
able numbers  along  the  heights,  and,  as  they  were  expert 
marksmen,  being  trained  by  early  and  assiduous  practice,  the 
shots  from  their  arquebuses  and  cross-bows  frequently  found 
some  assailable  point  in  the  harness  of  the  Spanish  men-at- 
arms.  At  length,  the  army,  through  the  treachery  or  igno- 
rance of  the  guides,  was  suddenly  brought  to  a halt  by  arriving 
in  a deep  glen  or  enclosure,  whose  rocky  sides  rose  with  such 
boldness  as  to  be  scarcely  practicable  for  infantry,  much  less 
for  horse.  To  add  to  their  distresses,  daylight,  without  which 
they  could  scarcely  hope  to  extricate  themselves,  was  fast 
fading  away.25 

In  this  extremity  no  other  alternative  seemed  to  remain, 
than  to  attempt  to  regain  the  route  from  which  they  had  de- 
parted. As  all  other  considerations  were  now  subordinate  to 
those  of  personal  safety,  it  was  agreed  to  abandon  the  spoil 
acquired  at  so  much  hazard,  which  greatly  retarded  their 
movements.  As  they  painfully  retraced  their  steps,  the 
darkness  of  the  night  was  partially  dispelled  by  numerous 
fires,  which  blazed  along  the  hill-tops,  and  which  showed  the 
figures  of  their  enemies  flitting  to  and  fro  like  so  many  spec- 
tres. It  seemed,  says  Bernaldez,  as  if  ten  thousand  torches 
were  glancing  along  the  mountains.  At  length,  the  whole 
body,  faint  with  fatigue  and  hunger,  reached  the  borders  of 
a little  stream,  which  flowed  through  a valley,  whose  avenues, 
as  well  as  the  rugged  heights  by  which  it  was  commanded, 
were  already  occupied  by  the  enemy,  who  poured  down 
mingled  volleys  of  shot,  stones,  and  arrows  on  the  heads  of 
the  Christians.  The  compact  mass  presented  by  the  latter 


ROUT  IN  THE  AXARQUI A. 


*57 


afforded  a sure  mark  to  the  artillery  of  the  Moors;  while  they, 
from  their  scattered  position,  as  well  as  from  the  defences 
afforded  by  the  nature  of  the  ground,  were  exposed  to  little 
annoyance  in  return.  In  addition  to  lighter  missiles,  the 
Moors  occasionally  dislodged  large  fragments  of  rock,  which, 
rolling  with  tremendous  violence  down  the  declivities  of  the 
hills,  spread  frightful  desolation  through  the  Christian 
ranks.26 

The  dismay  occasioned  by  these  scenes,  occurring  amidst 
the  darkness  of  night,  and  heightened  by  the  shrill  war-cries 
of  the  Moors,  which  rose  around  them  on  every  quarter, 
seems  to  have  completely  bewildered  the  Spaniards,  even 
their  leaders.  It  was  the  misfortune  of  the  expedition,  that 
there  was  but  little  concert  between  the  several  commanders, 
or,  at  least,  that  there  was  no  one  so  preeminent  above  the  rest 
as  to  assume  authority  at  this  awful  moment.  So  far,  it  would 
seem,  from  attempting  escape,  they  continued  in  their  peril- 
ous position,  uncertain  what  course  to  take,  until  midnight; 
when  at  length,  after  having  seen  their  best  and  bravest  fol- 
lowers fall  thick  around  them,  they  determined  at  all  hazards 
to  force  a passage  across  the  sierra  in  the  face  of  the  enemy. 
“Better  lose  our  lives,”  said  the  grand  master  of  St.  James, 
addressing  his  men,  “in  cutting  a way  through  the  foe,  than 
be  butchered  without  resistance,  like  cat'tle  in  the  sharm 
bles.”  27 

The  marquis  of  Cadiz,  guided  by  a trusty  adalid,  and  no 
companied  by  sixty  or  seventy  lances,  was  fortunate  enough 
to  gain  a circuitous  route  less  vigilantly  guarded  by  the 
enemy,  whose  attention  was  drawn  to  the  movements  of  the 
main  body  of  the  Castilian  army.  By  means  of  this  path, 
the  marquis  with  his  little  band  succeeded,  after  a painful 
narch,  in  which  his  good  steed  sunk  under  him  oppressed 
vith  wounds  and  fatigue,  in  reaching  a valley  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  scene  of  action,  where  he  determined  to  wait 
the  coming  up  of  his  friends,  who  he  confidently  expecced 
would  follow  on  his  track.28 

But  the  grand  master  and  his  associates,  missing  this  track 
in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  or  perhaps  preferring  another, 
breasted  the  sierra  in  a part  where  it  proved  difficult  of  ascent. 
At  every  step  the  loosened  earth  gave  way  under  the  pressure 
of  the  foot,  and,  the  infantry  endeavoring  to  support  them- 
selves by  clinging  to  the  tails  and  manes  of  the  horses,  the 
jaded  animals,  borne  down  with  the  weight,  rolled  headlong 
with  their  riders  on  the  ranks  below,  or  were  precipitated 
down  the  sides  of  the  numerous  ravines.  The  Moors,  all  the 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


*58 

while,  avoiding  a close  encounter,  contented  themselves  with 
discharging  on  the  heads  of  their  opponents  an  unintermitted 
shower  of  missiles  of  every  description.29 

It  was  not  until  the  following  morning,  that  the  Castilians, 
having  surmounted  the  crest  of  the  eminence,  began  the  de- 
scent into  the  opposite  valley,  which  they  had  the  mortifica- 
tion to  observe  was  commanded  on  every  point  by  their  vigi- 
lant adversary,  who  seemed  now  in  their  eyes  to  possess  the 
powers  of  ubiquity.  As  the  light  broke  upon  the  troops,  it 
revealed  the  whole  extent  of  their  melancholy  condition. 
How  different  from  the  magnificent  array  which,  but  two  days 
previous,  marched  forth  with  such  high  and  confident  hopes 
from  the  gates  of  Antequera!  their  ranks  thinned,  their  bright 
arms  defaced  and  broken,  their  banners  rent  in  pieces,  or 
lost, — as  had  been  that  of  St.  James,  together  with  its  gallant 
alferez , Diego  Becerra,  in  the  terrible  passage  of  the  pre- 
ceding night, — their  countenances  aghast  with  terror,  fatigue, 
and  famine.  Despair  now  was  in  every  eye,  all  subordination 
was  at  an  end.  No  one,  says  Pulgar,  heeded  any  longer  the 
call  of  the  trumpet,  or  the  wave  of  the  banner.  Each  sought 
only  his  own  safety,  without  regard  to  his  comrade.  Some 
threw  away  their  arms;  hoping  by  this  means  to  facilitate 
their  escape,  while  in  fact  it  only  left  them  more  defenceless 
against  the  shafts  of  their  enemies.  Some,  oppressed  with 
fatigue  and  terror,  fell  down  and  died  without  so  much  as 
receiving  a wound.  The  panic  was  such,  that,  in  more  than 
one  instance,  two  or  three  Moorish  soldiers  were  known  to 
capture  thrice  their  own  number  of  Spaniards.  Some,  losing 
their  way,  strayed  back  to  Malaga  and  were  made  prisoners 
by  females  of  the  city,  who  overtook  them  in  the  fields. 
Others  escaped  to  Alhama  or  other  distant  places,  after 
wandering  seven  or  eight  days  among  the  mountains,  sus- 
taining life  on  such  wild  herbs  and  berries  as  they  could  find, 
and  lying  close  during  the  day.  A greater  number  succeeded 
in  reaching  Antequera,  and,  among  these,  most  of  the 
leaders  of  the  expedition.  The  grand  master  of  St.  James, 
the  adelantado  Henriquez,  and  Don  Alonso  de  Aguilar  effec- 
ted their  escape  by  scaling  so  perilous  a part  of  the  sierra 
that  their  pursuers  cared  not  to  follow.  The  count  de  Cifu- 
entes  was  less  fortunate.30  That  nobleman’s  division  was 
said  to  have  suffered  more  severely  than  any  other.  On  the 
morning  after  the  bloody  passage  of  the  mountain,  he  found 
himself  suddenly  cut  off  from  his  followers,  and  surrounded 
by  six  Moorish  cavaliers,  aginst  whom  he  was  defending  him- 
self with  desperate  courage,  when  their  leader,  Reduan 


ROUT  IN  THE  AXARQUIA. 


259 


Benegas,  struck  with  the  inequality  of  the  combat,  broke  in, 
exclaiming,  “Hold,  this  is  unworthy  of  good  knights.”  The 
assailants  sunk  back  abashed  by  the  rebuke,  and  left  the 
count  to  their  commander.  A close  encounter  then  took 
place  between  the  two  chiefs;  but  the  strength  of  the  Spaniard 
was  no  longer  equal  to  his  spirit,  and,  after  a brief  resistance, 
he  was  forced  to  surrender  to  his  generous  enemy.31 

The  marquis  of  Cadiz  had  better  fortune.  After  waiting 
till  dawn  for  the  coming  up  of  his  friends,  he  concluded  that 
they  had  extricated  themselves  by  a different  route.  He 
resolved  to  provide  for  his  own  safety  and  that  of  his  follow- 
ers, and,  being  supplied  with  a fresh  horse,  accomplished 
his  escape,  after  traversing  the  wildest  passages  of  the  Axar- 
quia  for  the  distance  of  four  leagues,  and  got  into  Antequera 
with  but  little  interruption  from  the  enemy.  But,  although 
he  secured  his  personal  safety,  the  misfortunes  of  the  day 
fell  heavily  on  his  house;  for  two  of  his  brothers  were  cut 
down  by  his  side,  and  a third  brother,  with  a nephew,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.32 

The  amount  of  slain  in  the  two  day’s  actions,  is  admitted 
by  the  Spanish  writers  to  have  exceeded  eight  hundred,  with 
double  that  number  of  prisoners.  The  Moorish  force  is  said 
to  have  been  small,  and  its  loss  comparatively  trifling.  The 
numerical  estimates  of  the  Spanish  historians,  as  usual,  ap- 
pear extremely  loose;  and  the  narrative  of  their  enemies  is 
too  meagre  in  this  portion  of  their  annals,  to  allow  any 
opportunity  of  verification.  There  is  no  reason,  however,  to 
believe  them  in  any  degree  exaggerated. 

The  best  blood  of  Andalusia  was  shed  on  this  occasion. 
Among  the  slain,  Bernaldez  reckons  two  hundred  and  fifty, 
and  Pulgar  four  hundred  persons  of  quality,  with  thirty  com- 
manders of  the  military  fraternity  of  St.  James.  There  was 
scarcely  a family  in  the  south,  but  had  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
some  one  of  its  members  by  death  or  captivity;  and  the 
distress  was  not  a little  aggravated  by  the  uncertainty  which 
hung  over  the  fate  of  the  absent,  as  to  whether  they  had 
fallen  in  the  field,  or  were  still  wandering  in  the  wilderness, 
or  were  pining  away  existence  in  the  dungeons  of  Malaga 
Granada.33 

Some  imputed  the  failure  of  the  expedition  to  treachery 
in  the  adalides,  some  to  want  of  concert  among  the  com- 
manders. The  worthy  Curate  of  Los  Palacios  concludes  his 
narrative  of  the  disaster  in  the  following  manner.  “The 
number  of  the  Moors  was  small,  who  inflicted  this  grievous 
defeat  on  the  Christians.  It  was,  indeed,  clearly  miraculous, 


260 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


and  we  ma;  discern  in  it  the  special  interposition  of  Provi- 
dence, justly  offended  with  the  greater  part  of  those  that  en- 
gaged in  the  expedition;  who,  instead  of  confessing,  partaking 
the  sacrament,  and  making  their  testaments,  as  becomes  good 
Christians,  and  men  that  are  to  bear  arms  in  defence  of  the 
Holy  Catholic  Faith,  acknowledged  that  they  did  not  bring 
with  them  suitable  dispositions,  but,  with  little  regard  to 
God’s  service,  were  influenced  by  covetousness  and  love  of 
ungodly  gain.,,  34 


CHAPTER  XI. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. — GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  POLICY  PUR- 
SUED IN  THE  CONDUCT  OF  THIS  WAR. 

1483— !487- 

Defeat  and  Capture  of  Abdallah. — Policy  of  the  Sovereigns. — Large  Trains 
of  Artillery. — Description  of  the  Pieces. — Stupendous  Roads. — Isa- 
bella’s Care  of  the  Troops. — Her  Perseverance. — Discipline  of  the 
Army. — Swiss  Mercenaries. — English  Lord  Scales. — Magnificence  of 
the  Nobles. — Isabella  visits  the  Camp. — Ceremonies  on  the  Occupa- 
tion of  a City. 

The  young  monarch,  Abu  Abdallah,  was  probably  the  only 
person  in  Granada,  who  did  not  receive  with  unmingled 
satisfaction  the  tidings  of  the  rout  in  the  Axarquia.  He 
beheld  with  secret  uneasiness  the  laurels  thus  acquired  by  the 
old  king  his  father,  or  rather  by  his  ambitious  uncle  El  Zagal, 
whose  name  now  resounded  from  every  quarter  as  the  suc- 
cessful champion  of  the  Moslems.  He  saw  the  necessity  of 
some  dazzling  enterprize,  if  he  would  maintain  an  ascendency 
even  over  the  faction  which  had  seated  him  on  the  throne. 
He  accordingly  projected  an  excursion,  which,  instead  of 
terminating  in  a mere  border  foray  should  lead  to  the  achieve- 
ment of  some  permanent  conquest. 

He  found  no  difficulty,  while  the  spirits  of  his  people  were 
roused,  in  raising  a force  of  nine  thousand  foot,  and  seven 
hundred  horse,  the  flower  of  Granada’s  chivalry.  He 
strengthened  his  army  still  further  by  the  presence  of  All 
Atar,  the  defender  of  Loja,  the  veteran  of  a hundred  battles, 
whose  military  prowess  had  raised  him  from  the  common  file 
up  to  the  highest  post  in  the  army;  and  whose  plebian  blood 
had  been  permitted  to  mingle  with  that  of  royalty,  by  the 
marriage  of  his  daughter  with  the  young  king  of  Abdallah. 

With  this  gallant  array,  the  Moorish  monarch  sallied  forth 
from  Granada.  As  he  led  the  way  through  the  avenue  which 
still  bears  the  name  of  the  gate  of  Elvira,1  the  point  of  his 
lance  came  in  contact  with  the  arch,  and  was  broken.  This 
sinister  omen  was  followed  by  another  more  alarming.  A 


262 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


fox,  which  crossed  the  path  of  the  army,  was  seen  to  run 
through  the  ranks,  and,  notwithstanding  the  showers  of  mis- 
siles discharged  at  him,  to  make  his  escape  unhurt.  Abdal- 
lah’s counsellors  would  have  persuaded  him  to  abandon,  or  at 
least  postpone,  an  enterprise  of  such  ill  augury.  But  the 
king,  less  superstitious,  or  frpm  the  obstinacy  with  which 
feeble  minds,  when  once  resolved,  frequently  persist  in  their 
projects,  rejected  their  advice,  and  pressed  forward  on  his 
march.2 

The  advance  of  the  party  was  not  conducted  so  cautiously, 
but  that  it  reached  the  ear  of  Don  Diego  Fernandez  de  Cor- 
dova, alcayde  de  l os  donzeles , or  captain  of  the  royal  pages, 
who  commanded  in  the  town  of  Lucena,  which  he  rightly 
judged  was  to  be  the  principal  object  of  attack.  He  trans- 
mitted the  intelligence  to  his  uncle  the  count  of  Cabra,  a 
nobleman  of  the  same  name  with  himself,  who  was  posted  at 
his  own  town. of  Baena,  requesting  his  support.  He  used  all 
diligence  in  repairing  the  fortifications  of  the  city,  which, 
although  extensive  and  originally  strong,  had  fallen  some- 
what into  decay;  and,  having  caused  such  of  the  population 
as  were  rendered  helpless  by  age  or  infirmity  to  withdraw 
into  the  interior  defences  of  the  place,  he  coolly  waited  the 
approach  of  the  enemy.3 

The  Moorish  army/ after  crossing  the  borders,  began  to 
mark  its  career  through  the  Christian  territory  with  the  usual 
traces  of  devastation,  and,  sweeping  across  the  environs  of 
Lucena,  poured  a marauding  foray  into  the  rich  campina  of 
Cordova,  as  far  as  the  walls  of  Aguilar;  whence  it  returned, 
glutted  with  spoil,  to  lay  siege  to  Lucena  about  the  21st  of 
April. 

The  count  of  Cabra,  in  the  mean  while,  who  had  lost  no 
time  in  mustering  his  levies,  set  forward  at  the  head  of  a small 
but  well-appointed  force,  consisting  of  both  horse  and  foot, 
to  the  relief  of  his  nephew.  He  advanced  with  such  celerity 
that  he  had  well  nigh  surprised  the  beleaguering  army.  As 
he  traversed  the  sierra,  which  covered  the  Moorish  flank,  his 
numbers  were  partially  concealed  by  the  inequalities  of  the 
ground:  while  the  clash  of  arms  and  the  shrill  music,  rever- 
berating among  the  hills,  exaggerated  their  zeal  magnitude 
in  the  apprehension  of  the  enemy.  At  the  same  time  the 
alcayde  de  los  donzeles  supported  his  uncle’s  advance  by  a vig- 
orous sally  from  the  city.  The  Granadine  infantry,  anxious 
only  for  the  preservation  of  their  valuable  booty,  scarcely 
waited  for  the  encounter,  before  they  began  a dastardly  re- 
treat, and  left  the  battle  to  the  cavalry.  The  latter,  composed, 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS.  263 

as  has  been  said,  of  the  strength  of  the  Moorish  chivalry, 
men  accustomed  in  many  a border  foray  to  cross  lances  with 
the  best  knights  of  Andalusia,  kept  their  ground  with  their 
wonted  gallantry.  The  conflict,  so  well  disputed,  remained 
doubtful  for  some  time,  until  it  was  determined  by  the  death 
of  the  veteran  chieftain  Ali  Atar  “the  best  lance,’ ’ as  a Cas- 
tilian writer  has  styled  him,  “of  all  Morisma,”  who  was 
brought  to  the  ground  after  receiving  two  wounds,  and  thus 
escaped  by  an  honorable  death  the  melancholy  spectacle  of  his 
country’s  humiliation.4 

The  enemy,  disheartened  by  this  loss,  soon  began  to  give 
ground.  But,  though  hard  pressed  by  the  Spaniards,  they 
retreated  in  some  order,  until  they  reached  the  borders  of  the 
Xenil,  which  were  thronged  with  the  infantry,  vainly  at- 
tempting a passage  across  the  stream,  swollen  by  excessive 
rains  to  a height  much  above  its  ordinary  level.  The  confu- 
sion now  became  universal,  horse  and  foot  mingling  together; 
each  one,  heedful  only  of  life,  no  longer  thought  of  his  booty. 
Many,  attempting  to  swim  the  stream,  were  borne  down, 
steed  and  rider,  promiscuously  in  its  waters.  Many  more, 
scarcely  making  show  of  resistance,  were  cut  down  on  the 
banks  by  the  pitiless  Spaniards.  The  young  king  Abdallah, 
who  had  been  conspicuous  during  that  day  in  the  hottest  of 
the  fight,  mounted  on  a milk-white  charger  richly  caparisoned, 
saw  fifty  of  his  loyal  guard  fall  around  him.  Finding  his  steed 
too  much  jaded  to  stem  the  current  of  the  river,  he  quietly 
dismounted  and  sought  a shelter  among  the  reedy  thickets 
that  fringed  its  margin,  until  the  storm  of  battle  should  have 
passed  over.  In  this  lurking  place,  however,  he  was  discov- 
ered by  a common  soldier  named  Martin  Hurtado,  who,  with- 
out recognizing  his  person,  instantly  attacked  him.  The 
prince  defended  himself  with  his  scimtar,  until  Hurtado, 
being  joined  by  two  of  his  countrymen,  succeeded  in  making 
him  prisoner.  The  men,  overjoyed  at  their  prize  (for  Abdal- 
lah had  revealed  his  rank,  in  order  to  secure  his  person- from 
violence),  conducted  him  to  their  general,  the  count  of  Cabra. 
The  latter  received  the  royal  captive  with  a generous  courtesy, 
the  best  sign  of  noble  breeding,  and  which,  recognized  as  a 
feature  of  chivalry,  affords  a pleasing  contrast  to  the  ferocious 
spirit  of  ancient  warfare.  The  good  count  administered  to 
the  unfortunate  prince  all  the  consolations  which  his  state 
would  admit;  and  subsequently  lodged  him  in  his  castle  of 
Baena,  where  he  was  entertained  with  the  most  delicate  and 
courtly  hospitality.6 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  Moslem  cavalry  were  cut  up,  or 


264 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


captured,  in  this  fatal  action.  Many  of  them  were  persons 
of  rank,  commanding  high  ransoms.  The  loss  inflicted  on 
the  infantry  was  also  severe,  including  the  whole  of  their 
dear-bought  plunder.  Nine,  or  indeed,  according  to  some 
accounts,  two  and  twenty  banners  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Christians  in  this  action;  in  commemoration  of  which  the 
Spanish  sovereigns  granted  to  the  count  of  Cabra,  and  his 
nephew,  the  alcayde  de  los  donzeles,  the  privilege  of  bearing 
the  same  number  of  banners  on  their  escutcheon,  together 
with  the  head  of  a Moorish  king,  encircled  by  a golden  coro- 
net, with  a chain  of  the  same  metal  around  the  neck.6 

Great  was  the  consternation  occasioned  by  the  return  of  the 
Moorish  fugitives  to  Granada,  and  loud  was  the  lament 
through  its  most  populous  streets;  for  the  pride  of  many  a 
noble  house  was  laid  low  on  that  day,  and  their  king  (a  thing 
unprecedented  in  the  annals  of  the  monarchy)  was  a prisoner 
in  the  land  of  the  Christians.  ‘‘The  hostile  star  of  Islam,” 
exclaims  an  Arabic  writer,  “now  scattered  its  malignant  in- 
fluences over  Spain,  and  the  downfall  of  the  Mussulman 
empire  was  decreed.” 

The  sultana  Zoraya,  however,  was  not  of  a temper  to  waste 
time  in  useless  lamentation.  She  was  aware  that  a captive 
king,  who  held  his  title  by  so  precarious  a tenure  as  did  her 
son  Abdallah,  must  soon  cease  to  be  a king  even  in  name. 
She  accordingly  despatched  a numerous  embassy  to  Cordova, 
with  proffers  of  such  a ransom  for  the  prince’s  liberation,  as 
a despot  only  could  offer,  and  few  despots  could  have  the 
authority  to  enforce. 

King  Ferdinand,  who  was  at  Vitoria  with  the  queen,  when 
he  received  tidings  of  the  victory  of  Lucena,  hastened  to  the 
south  to  determine  on  the  destination  of  his  royal  captive. 
With  some  show  of  magnanimity,  he  declined  an  interview 
with  Abdallah,  until  he  should  have  consented  to  his  libera- 
tion. A debate  of  some  warmth  occurred  in  the  royal  council 
at  Cordova,  respecting  the  policy  to  be  pursued;  some  con- 
tending that  the  Moorish  monarch  was  too  valuable  a prize 
to  be  so  readily  relinquished,  and  that  the  enemy,  broken  by 
the  loss  of  their  natural  leader,  would  find  it  difficult  to  rally 
under  one  common  head,  or  to  concert  any  effective  move- 
ment. Others,  and  especially  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  urged 
his  release,  and  even  the  support  of  his  pretensions  against 
his  competitor,  the  old  king  of  Granada;  insisting  that  the 
Moorish  empire  would  be  more  effectually  shaken  by  internal 
divisions,  than  by  any  pressure  of  its  enemies  from  without. 
The  various  arguments  were  submitted  to  the  queen,  who 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS  265 

still  held  her  court  in  the  north,  and  who  decided  for  the 
release  of  Abdallah,  as  a measure  best  reconciling  sound  policy 
with  generosity  to  the  vanquished.8 

The  terms  of  the  treaty,  although  sufficiently  humiliating 
to  the  Moslem  prince,  were  not  materially  different  from 
those  proposed  by  the  sultana  Zoraya.  It  was  agreed  that  a 
truce  of  two  years  should  be  extended  to  Abdallah,  and  to 
such  places  in  Granada  as  acknowledged  his  authority.  In 
consideration  of  which,  he  stipulated  to  surrender  four  hun- 
dred Christian  captives  without  ransom,  to  pay  twelve 
thousand  doblas  of  gold  annually  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns, 
and  to  permit  a free  passage,  as  well  as  furnish  supplies,  to 
their  troops  passing  through  his  territories,  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  on  the  war  against  that  portion  of  the  kingdom 
which  still  adhered  to  his  father.  Abdallah  moreover  bound 
himself  to  appear  when  summoned  by  Ferdinand,  and  to  sur- 
render his  own  son,  with  the  children  of  his  principal  nobility, 
as  sureties  for  his  fulfilment  of  the  treaty.  Thus  did  the  un- 
happy prince  barter  away  his  honor  and  his  country’s  freedom 
for  the  possession  of  immediate,  but  most  precarious  sover- 
eignty; a sovereignty,  which  could  scarcely  be  expected  to 
survive  the  period  when  he  could  be  useful  to  the  master 
whose  breath  had  made  him.9 

The  terms  of  the  treaty  being  thus  definitively  settled,  an 
interview  was  arranged  to  take  place  between  the  two 
monarchs  at  Cordova.  The  Castilian  courtiers  would  have 
persuaded  their  master  to  offer  his  hand  for  Abdallah  to  salute, 
in  token  of  his  feudal  supremacy;  but  Ferdinand  replied, 
“Were  the  king  of  Granada  in  his  own  dominions,  I might 
do  this;  but  not  while  he  is  a prisoner  in  mine.”  The 
Moorish  prince  entered  Cordova  with  an  escort  of  his  own 
knights,  and  a splendid  throng  of  Spanish  chivalry,  who  had 
marched  out  of  the  city  to  receive  him.  When  Abdallah 
entered  the  royal  presence,  he  would  have  prostrated  himself 
on  his  knees;  but  Ferdinand,  hastening  to  prevent  him,  em- 
braced him  with  every  demonstration  of  respect.  An  Arabic 
interpreter,  who  acted  as  orator,  then  expatiated,  in  florid 
hyperbole,  on  the  magnanimity  and  princely  qualities  of  the 
Spanish  king,  and  the  loyalty  and  good  faith  of  his  own 
master.  But  Ferdinand  interrupted  his  eloquence,  with  the 
assurance  that  “his  panegyric  was  superfluous,  and  that  he 
had  perfect  confidence  that  the  sovereign  of  Granada  would 
keep  his  faith  as  became  a true  knight  and  a king.”  After 
ceremonies  so  humiliating  to  the  Moorish  prince,  notwith- 
standing the  veil  of  decorum  studiously  thrown  over  them, 
Vol.  I. — 12. 


266 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


he  set  out  with  his  attendants  for  his  capital,  escorted  by  a 
body  of  Andalusian  horse  to  the  frontier,  and  loaded  with 
costly  presents  by  the  Spanish  king,  and  the  general  con- 
tempt of  his  court.10 

Notwithstanding  the  importance  of  the  results  in  the  war  of 
Granada,  a detail  of  the  successive  steps  by  which  they  were 
achieved  would  be  most-  tedious  and  trifling.  No  siege  or 
single  military  achievement  of  great  moment  occurred  until 
nearly  four  years  from  this  period,  in  1487;  although,  in  the 
intervening  time,  a large  number  of  fortresses  and  petty  towns, 
together  with  a very  extensive  tract  of  territory,  were  recov- 
ered from  the  enemy.  Without  pursuing  the  chronological 
order  of  events,  it  is  probable  that  the  end  of  history  will  be 
best  attained  by  presenting  a concise  view  of  the  general 
policy  pursued  by  the  sovereigns  in  the  conduct  of  the  war. 

The  Moorish  wars  under  preceding  monarchs  had  con- 
sisted of  little  else  than  cavalgadas , or  inroads  into  the  enemy’s 
territory,11  which,  pouring  like  a torrent  over  the  land,  swept 
away  whatever  was  upon  the  surface,  but  left  it  in  its  essential 
resources  wholly  unimpaired.  The  bounty  of  nature  soon 
repaired  the  ravages  of  man,  and  the  ensuing  harvest  seemed 
to  shoot  up  more  abundantly  from  the  soil,  enriched  by  the 
blood  of  the  husbandmen.  A more  vigorous  system  of  spo- 
liation was  now  introduced.  Instead  of  one  campaign,  the 
army  took  the  field  in  spring  and  autumn,  intermitting  its 
efforts  only  during  the  intolerable  heats  of  summer,  so  that 
the  green  crop  had  no  time  to  ripen,  ere  it  was  trodden  down 
under  the  iron  heel  of  war. 

The  apparatus  for  devastation  was  also  on  a much  greater 
scale  than  had  ever  before  been  witnessed.  From  the  second 
year  of  the  war,  thirty  thousand  foragers  were  reserved  for 
this  service,  which  they  effected  by  demolishing  farm-houses, 
granaries,  and  mills  (which  last  were  exceedingly  numerous 
in  a land  watered  by  many  small  streams),  by  eradicating  the 
vines,  and  laying  waste  the  olive  gardens  and  plantations  of 
oranges,  almonds,  mulberries,  and  all  the  rich  varieties  that 
grew  luxuriant  in  this  highly  favored  region.  This  merciless 
devastation  extended  for  more  than  two  leagues  on  either  side 
of  the  line  of  march.  At  the  same  time,  the  Mediterranean 
fleet  cut  off  all  supplies  from  the  Barbary  coast,  so  that  the 
whole  kingdom  might  be  said  to  be  in  a state  of  perpetual 
blockade.  Such  and  so  general  was  the  scarcity  occasioned  by 
this  system,  that  the  Moors  were  glad  to  exchange  their  Chris- 
tian captives  for  provisions,  until  such  ransom  was  interdicted 
by  the  sovereigns,  as  tending  to  defeat  their  own  measures.12 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS.  267 

Still  there  was  many  a green  and  sheltered  valley  in  Gra- 
nada, which  yielded  its  returns  unmolested  to  the  Moorish 
husbandman;  while  his  granaries  were  occasionally  enriched 
with  the  produce  of  border  foray.  The  Moors  too,  although 
naturally  a luxurious  people,  were  patient  of  suffering,  and 
capable  of  enduring  great  privation.  Other  measures,  there- 
fore, of  a still  more  formidable  character,  became  necessary 
in  conjunction  with  this  rigorous  system  of  blockade. 

The  Moorish  towns  were  for  the  most  part  strongly  de- 
fended, presenting  within  the  limits  of  Granada,  as  has  been 
said,  more  than  ten  times  the  number  of  fortified  places  that 
are  now  scattered  over  the  whole  extent  of  the  Peninsula. 
They  stood  along  the  crest  of  some  precipice,  or  bold  sierra, 
whose  natural  strength  was  augmented  by  the  solid  masonry 
with  which  they  were  surrounded,  and  which,  however  in- 
sufficient to  hold  out  against  modern  artillery,  bade  defiance 
to  all  the  enginery  of  battering  warfare  known  previously 
to  the  fifteenth  century.  It  was  this  strength  of  fortification, 
combined  with  that  of  their  local  position,  which  frequently 
enabled  a slender  garrison  in  these  places  to  laugh  to  scorn 
all  the  efforts  of  the  proudest  Castilian  armies. 

The  Spanish  sovereigns  were  convinced,  that  they  must 
look  to  their  artillery  as  the  only  effectual  means  for  the  re- 
duction of  these  strong-holds.  In  this,  they  as  well  as  the 
Moors  were  extremely  deficient,  although  Spain  appears  to 
have  furnished  earlier  examples  of  its  use  than  any  other 
country  in  Europe.  Isabella,  who  seems  to  have  had  the 
particular  control  of  this  department,  caused  the  most  skilful 
engineers  and  artisans  to  be  invited  into  the  kingdom  from 
France,  Germany,  and  Italy.  Forges  were  constructed  in  the 
camp,  and  all  the  requisite  materials  prepared  for  the  manu- 
facture of  cannon,  balls,  and  powder.  Large  quantities  of  the 
last  were  also  imported  from  Sicily,  Flanders,  and  Portugal. 
Commissaries  were  established  over  the  various  departments, 
with  instructions  to  provide  whatever  might  be  necessary  fo- 
the  operatives;  and  the  whole  was  intrusted  to  the  supervi- 
sion of  Don  Francisco  Ramirez,  an  hidalgo  of  Madrid,  a 
person  of  much  experience,  and  extensive  military  science, 
for  that  day.  By  these  efforts,  unremittingly  pursued  during 
the  whole  of  the  war,  Isabella  assembled  a train  of  artillery, 
such  as  was  probably  not  possessed  at  that  time  by  any 
other  European  potentate.13 

Still  the  clumsy  construction  of  the  ordnance  betrayed  the 
infancy  of  the  art.  More  than  twenty  pieces  of  artillery  used 
at  the  siege  of  Baza,  during  this  war,  are  still  to  be  seen  in 


268 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


that  city,  where  they  long  served  as  columns  in  the  public 
market-place.  The  largest  of  the  lombards,  as  the  heavy 
ordnance  was  called,  are  about  twelve  feet  in  length,  consist- 
ing of  iron  bars  two  inches  in  breadth,  held  together  by  bolts 
and  rings  of  the  same  metal.  These  were  firmly  attached  to 
their  carriages,  incapable  either  of  horizontal  or  vertical 
movement.  It  was  this  clumsiness  of  construction,  which 
led  Machiavelli,  some  thirty  years  after,  to  doubt  the  expe- 
diency of  bringing  cannon  into  field  engagements;  and  he 
particularly  recommends  in  his  treatise  on  the  Art  of  War, 
that  the  enemy’s  fire  should  be  evaded,  by  intervals  in  the 
ranks  being  left  open  opposite  to  his  cannon.14 

The  balls  thrown  from  these  engines  were  sometimes  of 
iron,  but  more  usually  of  marble.  Several  hundred  of  the 
latter  have  been  picked  up  in  the  fields  around  Baza,  many 
of  which  are  fourteen  inches  in  diameter,  and  weigh  a hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  pounds.  Yet  this  bulk,  enormous  as 
it  appears,  shows  a considerable  advance  in  the  art  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  when  the  stone-balls  discharged, 
according  to  Zurita,  at  the  siege  of  Balaguer,  weighed  not 
less  than  five  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  It  was  very  long 
before  the  exact  proportions  requisite  for  obtaining  the 
greatest  effective  force  could  be  ascertained.15 

The  awkwardness  with  which  their  artillery  was  served, 
corresponded  with  the  rudeness  of  its  manufacture.  It  is 
noticed  as  a remarkable  circumstance  by  the  chronicler,  that 
two  batteries,  at  the  siege  of  Albahar,  discharged  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  balls  in  the  course  of  a day.16  Besides  this 
more  usual  kind  of  ammunition,  the  Spaniards  threw  from 
their  engines  large  globular  masses,  composed  of  certain  in- 
flammable ingredients  mixed  with  gunpowder,  “which,  scat- 
tering long  trains  of  light,”  says  an  eyewitness,  “in  their 
passage  through  the  air,  filled  the  beholders  with  dismay,  and, 
descending  on  the  roofs  of  the  edifices,  frequently  occasioned 
extensive  conflagration.17 

The  transportation  of  their  bulky  engines  was  not  the 
least  of  the  difficulties  which  the  Spaniards  had  to  encounter 
in  this  war.  The  Moorish  fortresses  were  frequently  in- 
trenched in  the  depths  of  some  mountain  labyrinth,  whose 
rugged  passes  were  scarcely  accessible  to  cavalry.  An  im- 
mense body  of  pioneers,  therefore,  was  constantly  employed 
in  constructing  roads  for  the  artillery  across  these  sierras,  by 
levelling  the  mountains,  filling  up  the  intervening  valleys 
with  rocks,  or  with  cork  trees  and  other  timber  that  grew 
prolific  in  the  wilderness,  and  throwing  bridges  across  the 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS.  269 

torrents  and  precipitous  barrancos.  Pulgar  had  the  curiosity 
to  examine  one  of  the  causeways  thus  constructed,  prepara- 
tory to  the  siege  of  Cambil,  which,  although  six  thousand 
pioneers  were  constantly  employed  in  the  work,  was  attended 
with  such  difficulty,  that  it  advanced  only  three  leagues  in 
twelve  days.  It  required,  says  the  historian,  the  entire 
demolition  of  one  of  the  most  rugged  parts  of  the  sierra, 
which  no  one  could  have  believed  practicable  by  human  in- 
dustry.18 

The  Moorish  garrisons,  perched  on  their  mountain  fast- 
nesses, which,  like  the  eyry  of  some  bird  of  prey,  seemed 
almost  inaccessible  to  man,  beheld  with  astonishment  the 
heavy  trains  of  artillery,  emerging  from  the  passes,  where 
the  foot  of  the  hunter  had  scarcely  been  known  to  venture. 
The  walls  which  encompassed  their  cities,  although  lofty, 
were  not  of  sufficient  thickness  to  withstand  long  the  assaults 
of  these  formidable  engines.  The  Moors  were  deficient  in 
heavy  ordnance.  The  weapons  on  which  they  chiefly  relied 
for  annoying  the  enemy  at  a distance  were  the  arquebus  and 
cross-bow,  with  the  last  of  which  they  were  unerring  marks- 
men, being  trained  to  it  from  infancy.  They  adopted  a cus- 
tom, rarely  met  with  in  civilized  nations  of  any  age,  of 
poisoning  their  arrows;  distilling  for  this  purpose  the  juice 
of  aconite,  or  wolfsbane,  which  grew  rife  in  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada, or  Snowy  Mountains,  near  Granada.  A piece  of  linen 
or  cotton  cloth  steeped  in  this  decoction  was  wrapped  round 
the  point  of  the  weapon,  and  the  wound  inflicted  by  it,  how- 
ever trivial  in  appearance,  was  sure  to  be  mortal.  Indeed  a 
Spanish  writer,  not  content  with  this,  imputes  such  malignity 
to  the  virus,  that  a drop  of  it,  as  he  asserts,  mingling  with  the 
blood  oozing  from  a wound,  would  ascend  the  stream  into 
the  vein,  and  diffuse  its  fatal  influence  over  the  whole  sys- 
tem! 19 

Ferdinand,  who  appeared  at  the  head  of  his  armies 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  war,  pursued  a sagacious  policy 
in  reference  to  the  beleaguered  cities.  He  was  ever  ready 
to  meet  the  first  overtures  to  surrender,  in  the  most  liberal 
spirit;  granting  protection  of  person,  and  such  property  as 
the  besieged  could  transport  with  them,  and  assigning  them 
a residence,  if  they  preferred  it,  in  his  own  dominions. 
Many,  in  consequence  of  this,  migrated  to  Seville  and  other 
cities  of  Andalusia,  where  they  were  settled  on  estates  which 
had  been  confiscated  by  the  inquisitors;  who  looked  forward, 
no  doubt,  with  satisfaction  to  the  time,  when  they  should  be 
permitted  to  thrust  their  sickle  into  the  new  crop  of  heresy, 


270 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


whose  seeds  were  thus  sown  amid  the  ashes  of  the  old  one. 
Those  who  preferred  to  remain  in  the  conquered  Moorish 
territory,  as  Castilian  subjects,  were  permitted  the  free  en- 
joyment of  personal  rights  and  property,  as  well  as  of  their 
religion;  and,  such  was  the  fidelity  with  which  Ferdinand 
redeemed  his  engagements  during  the  war,  by  the  punish- 
ment of  the  least  infraction  of  them  by  his  own  people,  that 
many,  particularly  of  the  Moorish  peasantry,  preferred  abid- 
ing in  their  early  homes  to  removing  to  Granada,  or  other 
places  of  the  Moslem  dominion.  It  was,  perhaps,  a coun- 
terpart of  the  same  policy,  which  led  Ferdinand  to  chastise 
any  attempt  at  revolt,  on  the  part  of  his  new  Moorish  sub- 
jects, the  Mudejares,  as  they  were  called,  with  an  unspairing 
rigor,  which  merits  the  reproach  of  cruelty.  Such  was  the 
military  execution  inflicted  on  the  rebellious  town  of  Bene- 
maquez,  where  he  commanded  one  hundred  and  ten  of  the 
principal  inhabitants  to  be  hung  above  the  walls,  and,  after 
consigning  the  rest  of  the  population,  men,  women,  and  child- 
ren, to  slavery,  caused  the  place  to  be  razed  to  the  ground. 
The  humane  policy,  usually  pursued  by  Ferdinand,  seems  to 
have  had  a more  favorable  effect  on  his  enemies,  who  were 
exasperated,  rather  than  intimidated,  by  this  ferocious  act  of 
vengeance.20 

The  magnitude  of  the  other  preparations  corresponded 
with  those  for  the  ordnance  department.  The  amount  of 
forces  assembled  at  Cordova,  we  find  variously  stated  at  ten 
or  twelve  thousand  horse,  and  twenty,  and  eyen  forty  thou- 
sand foot,  exclusive  of  foragers.  On  one  occasion,  the  whole 
number,  including  men  for  the  artillery  service  and  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  camp,  is  reckoned  at  eighty  thousand.  The 
same  number  of  beasts  of  burden  were  employed  in  transport- 
ing the  supplies  required  for  this  immense  host,  as  well  as 
for  provisioning  the  conquered  cities  standing  in  the  midst 
of  a desolated  country.  The  queen,  who  took  this  depart- 
ment under  her  special  cognizance,  moved  along  the  frontier, 
stationing  herself  at  points  most  contiguous  to  the  scene  of 
operations.  There,  by  means  of  posts  regularly  established, 
she  received  hourly  intelligence  of  the  war.  At  the  same 
time  she  transmitted  the  requisite  munitions  for  the  troops, 
by  means  of  convoys  sufficiently  strong  to  secure  them  against 
the  irruptions  of  the  wily  enemy.21 

Isabella,  solicitous  for  everything  that  concerned  the  wel- 
fare of  her  people,  sometimes  visited  the  camp  in  person, 
encouraging  the  soldiers  to  endure  the  hardships  of  war,  and 
relieving  their  necessities  by  liberal  donations  of  clothes  and 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS.  27 1 

money.  She  caused  also  a number  of  large  tents,  known  as 
“the  queen’s  hospitals,”  to  be  always  reserved  for  the  sick 
and  wounded,  and  furnished  them  with  the  requisite  attend- 
ants and  medicines,  at  her  own  charge.  This  is  considered 
the  earliest  attempt  at  the  formation  of  a regular  camp  hos- 
pital, on  record.22 

Isabella  may  be  regarded  as  the  soul  of  this  war.  She 
engaged  in  it  with  the  most  exalted  views,  less  to  acquire 
territory,  than  to  reestablish  the  empire  of  the  Cross  over 
the  ancient  domain  of  Christendom.  On  this  point,  she  con- 
centrated all  the  energies  of  her  powerful  mind,  never  suffer- 
ing herself  to  be  diverted  by  any  subordinate  interest  from 
this  one  great  and  glorious  object.  When  the  king,  in  1484, 
would  have  paused  awhile  from  the  Granadine  war,  in  order 
to  prosecute  his  claims  to  Roussillon  against  the  French,  on 
the  demise  of  Louis  the  Eleventh,  Isabella  strongly  objected  to 
it;  but,  finding  her  remonstrance  ineffectual,  she  left  her  hus- 
band in  Aragon,  and  repaired  to  Cordova,  where  she  placed 
the  cardinal  of  Spain  at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  prepared 
to  open  the  campaign  in  the  usual  vigorous  manner.  Here, 
however,  she  was  soon  joined  by  Ferdinand,  who,  on  a cooler 
revision  of  the  subject,  deemed  it  prudent  to  postpone  his 
projected  enterprise. 

On  another  occasion,  in  the  same  year,  when  the  nobles, 
fatigued  with  the  service,  had  persuaded  the  king  to  retire 
earlier  than  usual,  the  queen,  dissatisfied  with  the  proceed- 
ing, addressed  a letter  to  her  husband,  in  which,  after  repre- 
senting the  disproportion  of  the  results  to  the  preparations, 
she  besought  him  to  keep  the  field  as  long  as  the  season 
should  serve.  The  grandees,  says  Lebrija,  mortified  at  being 
surpassed  in  zeal  for  the  holy  war  by  a woman,  eagerly  col- 
lected their  forces,  which  had  been  partly  disbanded,  and 
returned  across  the  borders  to  renew  hostilities.23 

A circumstance,  which  had  frequently  frustrated  the  most 
magnificent  military  enterprises  under  former  reigns,  was  the 
factions  of  these  potent  vassals,  who,  independent  of  each 
other,  and  almost  of  the  crown,  could  rarely  be  brought  to 
act  in  efficient  concert  for  a length  of  time,  and  broke  up  the 
camp  on  the  slightest  personal  jealousy.  Ferdinand  expe- 
rienced something  of  this  temper  in  the  duke  of  Medina  Celi, 
who,  when  he  had  received  orders  to  detach  a corps  of  his 
troops  to  the  support  of  the  count  of  Benavente,  refused,  re- 
plying to  the  messenger,  “Tell  your  master,  that  I came  here 
to  serve  him  at  the  head  of  my  household  troops,  and  they  go 
nowhere  without  me  as  their  leader.”  The  sovereigns  man- 


2 72 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


aged  this  fiery  spirit  with  the  greatest  address,  and,  instead 
of  curbing  it,  endeavored  to  direct  it  in  the  path  of  honorable 
emulation.  The  queen,  who  as  their  hereditary  sovereign 
received  a more  deferential  homage  from  her  Castilian  sub- 
jects than  Ferdinand,  frequently  wrote  to  her  nobles  in  the 
camp,  complimenting  some  on  their  achievements,  and  others 
less  fortunate  on  their  intentions,  thus  cheering  the  hearts  of 
all,  says  the  chronicler,  and  stimulating  them  to  deeds  of 
heroism.  On  the  most  deserving  she  freely  lavished  those 
honors  which  cost  little  to  the  sovereign,  but  are  most  grate- 
ful to  the  subject.  The  marquis  of  Cadiz,  who  was  preemi- 
nent above  every  other  captain  in  this  war  for  sagacity  and 
conduct,  was  rewarded  after  his  brilliant  surprise  of  Zahara, 
with  the  gift  of  that  city,  and  the  titles  of  Marquis  of  Zahara 
and  Duke  of  Cadiz.  The  warrior,  however,  was  unwilling 
to  resign  the  ancient  title  under  which  he  had  won  his  laurels, 
and  ever  after  subscribed  himself,  Marquis  Duke  of  Cadiz.24 
Still  more  emphatic  honors  were  conferred  on  the  count  de 
Cabra,  after  the  capture  of  the  king  of  Granada.  When  he 
presented  himself  before  the  sovereigns,  who  were  at  Vitoria, 
the  clergy  and  cavaliers  of  the  city  marched  out  to  receive 
him,  and  he  entered  in  solemn  procession  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  grand  cardinal  of  Spain.  As  he  advanced  up  the  hall 
of  audience  in  the  royal  palace,  the  king  and  queen  came 
forward^to  welcome  him,  and  then  seated  him  by  themselves 
at  table,  declaring  that  “the  conqueror  of  kings  should  sit 
with  kings.”  These  honors  were  followed  by  the  more  sub- 
stantial gratuity  of  a hundred  thousand  maravedies  annual 
rent;  “a  fat  donative,”  says  an  old  chronicler,  “for  so  lean 
a treasury.”  The  young  alcayde  de  los  donzeles  experienced 
a similar  reception  on  the  ensuing  day.  Such  acts  of  royal 
condescension  were  especially  grateful  to  the  nobility  of  a 
court,  circumscribed  beyond  every  other  in  Europe  by  stately 
and  ceremonious  etiquette.25 

The  duration  of  the  war  of  Granada  was  such  as  to  raise 
the  militia  throughout  the  kingdom  nearly  to  a level  with 
regular  troops.  Many  of  these  levies,  indeed,  at  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  war,  might  pretend  to  this  character.  Such 
were  those  furnished  by  the  Andalusian  cities,  which  had 
been  long  accustomed  to  skirmishes  with  their  Moslem  neigh- 
bors. Such  too  was  the  well-appointed  chivalry  of  the  mili- 
tary orders,  and  the  organized  militia  of  the  hermandad, 
which  we  find  sometimes  supplying  a body  of  ten  thousand 
men  for  the  service.  To  these  may  be  added  the  splendid 
throng  of  cavaliers  and  hidalgos,  who  swelled  the  retinues  of 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS.  273 

the  sovereigns  and  the  great  nobility.  The  king  was  attended 
in  battle  by  a body-guard  of  a thousand  knights,  one  half 
light,  and  the  other  half  heavy  armed,  all  superbly  equipped 
and  mounted,  and  trained  to  arms  from  childhood,  under  the 
royal  eye. 

Although  the  burden  of  the  war  bore  most  heavily  on  An- 
dalusia, from  its  contiguity  to  the  scene  of  action,  yet  recruits 
were  drawn  in  abundance  from  the  most  remote  provinces, 
as  Galicia,  Biscay,  and  the  Asturias,  from  Aragon,  and  even 
the  trasmarine  dominions  of  Sicily.  The  sovereigns  did  not 
disdain  to  swell  their  ranks  with  levies  of  a humbler  descrip- 
tion, by  promising  an  entire  amnesty  to  those  malefactors, 
who  had  left  the  country  in  great  numbers  of  late  years  to 
escape  justice,  on  condition  of  their  serving  in  the  Moorish 
war.  Throughout  this  motley  host  the  strictest  discipline 
and  decorum  were  maintained.  The  Spaniards  have  never 
been  disposed  to  intemperance;  but  the  passion  for  gam'ng, 
especially  with  dice,  to  which  they  seem  to  have  been  im- 
moderately addicted  at  that  day,  was  restrained  by  the 
severest  penalties.26 

The  brilliant  successes  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns  diffused 
general  satisfaction  throughout  Christendom,  and  volunteers 
flocked  to  the  camp  from  France,  England,  and  other  parts 
of  Europe,  eager  to  participate  in  the  glorious  triumphs  ot 
the  Cross.  Among  these  was  a corps  of  Swiss  mercenaries, 
who  are  thus  simply  described  by  Pulgar.  “There  joined 
the  royal  standard  a body  of  men  from  Switzerland,  a coun- 
try in  upper  Germany.  These  men  were  bold  of  heart,  and 
fought  on  foot.  As  they  were  resolved  never  to  turn  their 
backs  upon  the  enemy,  they  wore  no  defensive  armor,  except 
in  front;  by  which  means  they  were  less  encumbered  in  fight. 
They  made  a trade  of  war,  letting  themselves  out  as  merce- 
naries; but  they  espoused  only  a just  quarrel,  for  they  were 
devout  and  loyal  Christians,  and  above  all  abhorred  rapine 
as  a great  sin.”  27  The  Swiss  had  recently  established  their 
military  renown  by  the  discomfiture  of  Charles  the  Bold, 
when  they  first  proved  the  superiority  of  infantry  over  the 
best  appointed  chivalry  of  Europe.  Their  example  no  doubt 
contributed  to  the  formation  of  that  invincible  Spanish  infan- 
try, which,  under  the  Great  Captain  and  his  successors,  may 
be  said  to  have  decided  the  fate  of  Europe  for  more  than 
half  a century. 

Among  the  foreigners  was  one  from  the  distant  isle  of 
Britain,  the  earl  of  Rivers,  or  conde  de  Escalas,  as  he  is 
called  from  his  patronymic,  Scales,  by  the  Spanish  writers. 

12* 


274 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


“There  came  from  Britain, ” says  Peter  Martyr,  “a  cavalier, 
young,  wealthy,  and  high-born.  He  was  allied  to  the  blood 
royal  of  England.  He  was  attended  by  a beautiful  train  of 
household  troops  three  hundred  in  number,  armed  after  the 
fashion  of  their  land  with  long-bow  and  battle-axe/ 9 This 
nobleman  particularly  distinguished  himself  by  his  gallantry 
in  the  second  siege  of  Loja,  in  i486.  Having  asked  leave 
to  fight  after  the  manner  of  his  country,  says  the  Andalusian 
chronicler,  he  dismounted  from  his  good  steed,  and  putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  followers,  armed  like  himself  en 
bianco , with  their  swords  at  their  thighs,  and  battle-axes  in 
their  hands,  he  dealt  such  terrible  blows  around  him  as  filled 
even  the  hardy  mountaineers  of  the  north  with  astonishment. 
Unfortunately,  just  as  the  suburbs  were  carried,  the  good 
knight,  as  he  was  mounting  a scaling-ladder,  received  a blow 
from  a stone, which  dashed  out  two  of  his  teeth,  and  stretched 
him  senseless  on  the  ground.  He  was  removed  to  his  tent, 
where  he  lay  some  time  under  medical  treatment;  and,  when 
he  had  sufficiently  recovered,  he  received  a visit  from  the 
king  and  queen,  who  complimented  him  on  his  prowess,  and 
testified  their  sympathy  for  his  misfortune.  “It  is  little,’ ’ 
replied  he,  “to  lose  a few  teeth  in  the  service  of  him,  who 
has  given  me  all.  Our  Lord,’’  he  added,  “who  reared  this 
fabric,  has  only  opened  a window,  in  order  to  discern  the 
more  readily  what  passes  within.’’  A facetious  response,  says 
Peter  Martyr,  which  gave  uncommon  satisfaction  to  the  sove- 
reigns.28 

The  queen  not  long  after,  testified  her  sense  of  the  earl’s 
services,  by  a magnificent  largess,  consisting  among  other 
things,  of  twelve  Andalusian  horses,  two  couches  with  richly 
wrought  hangings  and  coverings  of  cloth  of  gold,  with  a 
quantity  of  fine  linen,  and  sumptuous  pavilions  for  himself  and 
suite.  The  brave  knight  seems  to  have  been  satisfied  with 
this  taste  of  the  Moorish  wars;  for  he  soon  after  returned  to 
England,  and  in  1488  passed  over  to  France,  where  his  hot 
spirit  prompted  him  to  take  part  in  the  feudal  factions  of  that 
country,  in  which  he  lost  his  life,  fighting  for  the  duke  of 
Brittany.29 

The  pomp  with  which  the  military  movements  were  con- 
ducted in  these  campaigns,  gave  the  scene  rather  the  air  of  a 
court  pageant,  than  that  of  the  stern  array  of  war.  The  war 
was  one,  which,  appealing  both  to  principles  of  religion  and 
patriotism,  was  well  calculated  to  inflame  the  imaginations 
of  the  young  Spanish  cavaliers;  and  they  poured  into  the  field, 
eager  to  display  themselves  under  the  eye  of  their  illustrious 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS.  275 

queen,  who,  as  she  rode  through  the  ranks  mounted  on  her 
war-horse,  and  clad  in  complete  mail,  afforded  no  bad  personi- 
fication of  the  genius  of  chivalry.  The  potent  and  wealthy 
barons  exhibited  in  the  camp  all  the  magnificence  of  princes. 
The  pavilions  decorated  with  various-colored  pennons,  and 
emblazoned  with  the  armorial  bearings  of  their  ancient 
houses,  shone  with  a splendor,  which  a Castilian  writer  likens 
to  that  of  the  city  of  Seville.30  They  always  appeared  sur- 
rounded by  a throng  of  pages  in  gorgeous  liveries  and  at  night 
were  preceded  by  a multitude  of  torches,  which  shed  a radiance 
like  that  of  day.  They  vied  with  each  other  in  the  costliness 
of  their  apparel,  equipage,  and  plate,  and  in  the  variety  and 
delicacy  of  the  dainties  with  which  their  tables  were  cov- 
ered.31 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  saw  with  regret  this  lavish  ostenta- 
tion, and  privately  remonstrated  with  some  of  the  principal 
grandees  on  its  evil  tendency,  especially  in  seducing  the 
inferior  and  poorer  nobility  into  expenditures  beyond  their 
means.  This  Sybarite  indulgence,  however,  does  not  seem 
to  have  impaired  the  martial  spirit  of  the  nobles.  On  ail 
occasions,  they  contended  with  each  other  for  the  post  of 
danger.  The  duke  del  Infantado,  the  head  of  the  powerful 
house  of  Mendoza,  was  conspicuous  above  all  for  the  mag- 
nificence of  his  train.  At  the  siege  of  Illora,  i486,  he  ob- 
tained permission  to  lead  the  storming  party.  As  his  follow- 
ers pressed  onward  to  the  breach,  they  were  received  with 
such  a shower  of  missiles  as  made  them  falter  for  a moment. 
“What,  my  men,”  cried  he,  “do  you  fail  me  at  this  hour? 
Shall  we  be  taunted  with  bearing  more  finery  on  our  backs 
than  courage  in  our  hearts?  Let  us  not,  in  God’s  name,  be 
laughed  at  as  mere  holyday  soldiers!’’  His  vassals,  stung 
by  this  rebuke,  rallied,  and,  penetrating  the  breech,  carried 
the  place  by  the  fury  of  their  assault.32 

Notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of  the  sovereigns 
against  this  ostentation  of  luxury,  they  were  not  wanting  in 
the  display  of  royal  state  and  magnificence  on  all  suitable 
occasions.  The  Curate  of  Los  Palacios  has  expatiated  with 
elaborate  minuteness  on  the  circumstances  of  an  interview 
between  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  in  the  camp  before  Moclin, 
in  i486,  where  the  queen’s  presence  was  solicited  for  the 
purpose  of  devising  a plan  of  future  operations.  A few  of 
the  particulars  may  be  transcribed,  though  at  the  hazard  of 
appearing  trivial  to  readers,  who  take  little  interest  in  such 
details. 

On  the  borders  of  the  Yeguas,  the  queen  was  met  by  an 


2/6 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


advanced  corps,  under  the  command  of  the  marquis  duke  of 
Cadiz,  and,  at  the  distance  of  a league  and  a half  from  Moc- 
lin,  by  the  duke  del  Infantado,  with  the  principal  nobility  and 
their  vassals,  splendidly  accoutred.  On  the  left  of  the  road 
was  drawn  up  in  battle  array  the  militia  of  Seville,  and  the 
queen,  making  her  obeisance  to  the  banner  of  that  illustrious 
city,  ordered  it  to  pass  to  her  right.  The  successive  battalions 
saluted  the  queen  as  she  advanced,  by  lowering  their  stand- 
ards, and  the  joyous  multitude  announced  with  tumultuous 
acclamations  her  approach  to  the  conquered  city. 

The  queen  was  accompanied  by  her  daughter,  the  infanta 
Isabella,  and  a courtly  train  of  damsels,  mounted  on  mules 
richly  caparisoned.  The  queen  herself  rode  a chestnut  mule, 
seated  on  a saddle-chair  embossed  with  gold  and  silver.  The 
housings  were  of  a crimson  color,  and  the  bridle  was  of  satin, 
curiously  wrought  with  letters  of  gold.  The  infanta  wore  a 
skirt  of  fine  velvet,  over  others  of  brocade;  a scarlet  mantilla 
of  the  Moorish  fashion;  and  a black  hat  trimmed  with  gold 
embroidery.  The  king  rode  forward  at  the  head  of  his  nobles 
to  receive  her.  He  was  dressed  in  a crimson  doublet,  with 
chausses , or  breeches,  of  yellow  satin.  Over  his  shoulders 
was  thrown  a cassock  or  mantle  of  rich  brocade,  and  a so- 
pravest  of  the  same  materials  concealed  his  cuirass.  By  his 
side,  close  girt,  he  wore  a Moorish  scimitar,  and  beneath  his 
bonnet  his  hair  was  confined  by  a cap  or  headdress  of  the 
finest  stuff. 

Ferdinand  was  mounted  on  a noble  war-horse  of  a bright 
chestnut  color.  In  the  splendid  train  of  chivalry  which 
attended  him,  Bernaldez  dwells  with  much  satisfaction  on  the 
English  lord  Scales.  He  was  followed  by  a retinue  of  five 
pages  arrayed  in  costly  liveries.  He  was  sheathed  in  com- 
plete mail,  over  which  was  thrown  a French  surcoat  of  dark 
silk  brocade.  A buckler  was  attached  by  golden  clasps  to 
his  arm,  and  on  his  head  he  wore  a white  French  hat  with 
plumes.  The  caparisons  of  his  steed  were  azure  silk,  lined 
with  violet  and  sprinkled  over  with  stars  of  gold,  and  swept 
the  ground,  as  he  managed  his  fiery  courser  with  an  easy 
horsemanship  that  excited  general  admiration. 

The  king  and  queen  as  they  drew  near,  bowed  thrice  with 
formal  reverence  to  each  other.  The  queen  at  the  same  time 
raising  her  hat,  remained  in  her  coif  or  headdress,  with  her 
face  uncovered;  Ferdinand,  riding  up,  kissed  her  affection- 
ately on  the  cheek,  and  then,  according  to  the  precise  choni- 
cler,  bestowed  a similar  mark  of  tenderness  on  his  daughter 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS.  277 

Isabella,  after  giving  her  his  paternal  benediction.  The 
royal  party  were  then  escorted  to  the  camp,  where  suitable 
accomodations  had  been  provided  for  the  queen  and  her  fair 
retinue.33 

It  may  readily  be  believed  that  the  sovereigns  did  not  ne- 
glect, in  a war  like  the  present,  an  appeal  to  the  religious 
principle  so  deeply  seated  in  the  Spanish  character.  All  their 
public  acts  ostentatiously  proclaimed  the  pious  nature  of  the 
work  in  which  they  were  engaged.  They  were  attended  in 
their  expeditions  by  churchmen  of  the  highest  rank,  who  not 
only  mingled  in  the  councils  of  the  camp,  but,  like  the  bold 
bishop  of  Jaen,  or  the  grand  cardinal  Mendoza,  buckled  on 
harness  over  rochet  and  hood,  and  led  their  squadrons  to  the 
field.34  The  queen  at  Cordova  celebrated  the  tidings  of  every 
new  success  over  the  infidel,  by  solemn  procession  and  thanks- 
giving, with  her  whole  household,  as  well  as  the  nobility, 
foreign  ambassadors,  and  municipal  functionaries.  In  like 
manner,  Ferdinand,  on  the  return  from  his  campaigns,  was 
received  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  escorted  in  solemn  pomp 
beneath  a rich  canopy  of  state  to  the  cathedral  church,  where 
he  prostrated  himself  in  grateful  adoration  of  the  Lord  of 
hosts.  Intelligence  of  their  triumphant  progress  in  the  war 
was  constantly  transmitted  to  the  pope,  who  returned  his 
benediction,  accompanied  by  more  substantial  marks  of  favor, 
in  bulls  of  crusade,  and  taxes  on  ecclesiastical  rents.35 

The  ceremonials  observed  on  the  occupation  of  a new  con- 
quest were  such  as  to  affect  the  heart  no  less  than  the  imagi- 
nation. “The  royal  alferez , says  Marineo,  “raised  the 
standard  of  the  Cross,  the  sign  of  our  salvation,  on  the  summit 
of  the  principal  fortress;  and  all  who  beheld  it  prostrated 
themselves  on  their  knees  in  silent  worship  of  the  Almighty, 
while  the  priests  chanted  the  glorious  anthem,  Te  Deum  lau- 
damus . The  ensign  or  pennon  of  St.  James,  the  chivalric 
patron  of  Spain,  was  then  unfolded,  and  all  invoked  his 
blessed  name.  Lastly,  was  displayed  the  banner  of  the  sove- 
reigns, emblazoned  with  the  royal  arms;  at  which  the  whole 
army  shouted  forth,  as  if  with  one  voice,  ‘Castile,  Castile!’ 
After  these  solemnities,  a bishop  led  the  way  to  the  principal 
mosque,  which,  after  the  rites  of  purification,  he  consecrated 
to  the  service  of  the  true  faith.’’ 

The  standard  of  the  Cross  above  referred  to,  was  of  mas- 
sive silver,  and  was  a present  from  pope  Sixtus  the  Fourth  to 
Ferdinand,  in  whose  tent  it  was  always  carried  throughout 
these  campaigns.  An  ample  supply  of  bells,  vases,  missals, 


278 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


plate,  and  other  sacred  furniture,  was  also  borne  along  witu 
the  camp,  being  provided  by  the  queen  for  the  purified 
mosques.36 

The  most  touching  part  of  the  incidents  usually  occurring 
at  the  surrender  of  a Moorish  city,  was  the  liberation  of  the 
Christian  captives  immured  in  its  dungeons.  On  the  capture 
of  Ronda,  in  1485,  more  than  four  hundred  of  these  unfor- 
tunate persons,  several  of  them  cavaliers  of  rank,  some  of 
whom  had  been  taken  in  the  fatal  expedition  of  the  Axarquia, 
were  restored  to  the  light  of  heaven.  On  being  brought 
before  Ferdinand,  they  prostrated  themselves  on  the  ground, 
bathing  his  feet  with  tears,  while  their  wan  and  wasted  fig- 
ures, their  dishevelled  locks,  their  beards  reaching  down  to 
their  girdles,  and  their  limbs  loaded  with 'heavy  manacles, 
brought  tears  into  the  eye  of  every  spectator.  They  were 
then  commanded  to  present  themselves  before  the  queen  at 
Cordova,  who  liberally  relieved  their  necessities,  and,  after 
the  celebration  of  public  thanksgiving,  caused  them  to  be 
conveyed  to  their  own  homes.  The  fetters  of  the  liberated 
captives  were  suspended  in  the  churches,  where  they  con- 
tinued to  be  revered  by  succeeding  generations  as  the  tro- 
phies of  Christian  warfare.37 

Ever  since  the  victory  of  Lucena,  the  sovereigns  had  made 
it  a capital  point  of  their  policy  to  foment  the  dissensions  of 
their  enemies.  The  young  king  Abdallah,  after  his  humili- 
ating treaty  with  Ferdinand,  lost  whatever  consideration 
he  had  previously  possessed.  Although  the  sultana  Zoraya, 
by  her  personal  address,  and  the  lavish  distribution  of  the 
royal  treasures,  contrived  to  maintain  a faction  for  her  son, 
the  better  classes  of  his  countrymen  despised  him  as  a rene- 
gade, and  a vassal  cf  the  Christian  king.  As  their  old  mon- 
arch had  become  incompetent,  from  increasing  age  and  blind- 
ness, to  the  duties  of  his  station  in  these  perilous  times,  they 
turned  their  eyes  on  his  brother  Abdallah,  surnamed  El  Zagal, 
or  “The  Valiant,”  who  had  borne  so  conspicuous  a part  in 
the  rout  of  the  Axarquia.  The  Castilians  depict  this  chief 
in  the  darkest  colors  of  ambition  and  cruelty;  but  the  Moslem 
writers  afford  no  such  intimation,  and  his  advancement  to 
the  throne  at  that  crisis  seems  to  be  in  some  measure  justified 
by  his  eminent  talents  as  a military  leader. 

On  his  way  to  Granada,  he  encountered  and  cut  to  pieces 
a body  of  Calatrava  knights  from  Alhama,  and  signalized 
his  entrance  into  his  new  capital  by  bearing  along  the  bloody 
trophies  of  heads  dangling  from  his  saddlebow,  after  the 
barbarous  fashion  long  practised  in  these  wars.38  It  was 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS.  279 

observed  that  the  old  king  Abul  Hacen  did  not  long  survive 
his  brother’s  accession.39  The  young  king  Abdallah  sought 
the  protection  of  the  Castilian  sovereigns  in  Seville,  who, 
true  to  their  policy,  sent  him  back  into  his  own  dominions 
with  the  means  of  making  headway  against  his  rival.  The 
alfakies  and  other  considerate  persons  of  Granada,  scanda- 
lized at  these  fatal  feuds,  effected  a reconciliation,  on  the 
basis  of  a division  of  the  kingdom  between  the  parties.  But 
wounds  so  deep  could  not  be  permanently  healed.  The  site 
of  the  Moorish  capital  was  most  propitious  to  the  purposes 
of  faction.  It  covered  two  swelling  eminences,  divided  from 
each  other  by  the  deep  waters  of  the  Darro.  The  two  fac- 
tions possessed  themselves  respectively  of  these  opposite 
quarters.  Abdallah  was  not  ashamed  to  strengthen  himself 
by  the  aid  of  Christian  mercenaries;  and  a dreadful  conflict 
was  carried  on  for  fifty  days  and  nights,  within  the  city, 
which  swam  with  the  blood,  that  should  have  been  shed  only 
in  its  defence.40 

Notwithstanding  these  auxiliary  circumstances,  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Christians  was  comparatively  slow.  Every  cliff 
seemed  to  be  crowned  with  a fortress;  and  every  fortress 
was  defended  with  the  desperation  of  men  willing  to  bury 
themselves  under  its  ruins.  The  old  men,  women,  and  child- 
ren, on  occasion  of  a siege,  were  frequently  despatched  to 
Granada.  Such  was  the  resolution,  or  rather  ferocity  of  the 
Moors,  that  Malaga  closed  its  gates  against  the  fugitives 
from  Alora,  after  its  surrender,  and  even  massacred  some  of 
them  in  cold  blood.  The  eagle  eye  of  El  Zagal  seemed  to 
take  in  at  a glance  the  whole  extent  of  his  little  territory, 
and  to  detect  every  vulnerable  point  in  his  antagonist,  whom 
he  encountered  where  he  least  expected  it;  cutting  off  his 
convoys,  surprising  his  foraging  parties,  and  retaliating  by 
a devastating  inroad  on  the  borders.41 

No  effectual  and  permanent  resistance,  however,  could 
be  opposed  to  the  tremendous  enginery  of  the  Christians. 
Tower  and  town  fell  before  it.  Besides  the  principal  towns 
of  Cartama,  Coin,  Setenil,  Ronda,  Marbella,  Illora,  termed 
by  the  Moors  “the  right  eye,’’  Moclin,  “the  shield’’  of  Gra- 
nada, and  Loja,  after  a second  and  desperate  siege  in  the 
spring  of  i486,  Bernaldez  enumerates  more  than  seventy 
subordinate  places  in  the  Val  de  Cartama,  and  thirteen  others 
after  the  fall  of  Marbella.  Thus  the  Spaniards  advanced 
their  line  of  conquest  more  than  twenty  leagues  beyond  the 
western  frontier  of  Granada.  This  extensive  tract  they 
strongly  fortified  and  peopled,  partly  with  Christian  subjects, 


28o 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


and  partly  with  Moorish,  the  original  occupants  of  the  soil, 
who  were  secured  in  the  possession  of  their  ancient  lands, 
under  their  own  law.42 

Thus  the  strong  posts,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the 
exterior  defences  of  the  city  of  Granada,  were  successively 
carried.  A few  positions  alone  remained  of  sufficient  strength 
to  keep  the  enemy  at  bay.  The  most  considerable  of  these 
Was  Malaga,  which  from  its  maritime  situation  afforded  faci- 
lities for  a communication  with  the  Barbary  Moors,  that  the 
vigilance  of  the  Castilian  cruisers  could  not  entirely  inter- 
cept. On  this  point,  therefore,  it  was  determined  to  concen- 
trate all  the  strength  of  the  monarchy,  by  sea  and  land,  in 
the  ensuing  campaign  of  1487. 


Two  of  the  most  important  authorities  for  the  war  of  Granada  are  Fer- 
nando del  Pulgar,  and  Antonio  de  Lebrija,  or  Nebrissensis,  as  he  is  called 
from  the  Latin  Nebrissa. 

Few  particulars  have  been  preserved  respecting  the  biography  of  the 
former.  He  was  probably  a native  of  Pulgar,  near  Toledo.  The  Castilian 
writers  recognize  certain  provincialisms  in  his  style  belonging  to  that  district. 
He  was  secretary  to  Henry  IV.,  and  was  charged  with  various  confidential 
functions  by  him.  He  seems  to  have  retained  his  place  on  the  accession 
of  Isabella,  by  whom  he  was  appointed  national  historiographer  in  1482, 
when,  from  certain  remarks  in  his  letters,  it  would  appear  he  was  already 
advanced  in  years.  This  office,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  comprehended,  in 
addition  to  the  more  obvious  duties  of  an  historian,  the  intimate  and  confi- 
dential relations  of  a private  secretary.  “It  was  the  business  of  the 
chronicler,”  says  Bernaldez,  “to  carry  on  foreign  correspondence  in  the 
service  of  his  master,  acquainting  himself  with  whatever  was  passing  in 
other  courts  and  countries,  and,  by  the  discreet  and  conciliatory  tenor  of 
his  epistles,  to  allay  such  feuds  as  might  arise  between  the  king  and  his 
nobility,  and  establish  harmony  between  them.”  From  this  period  Pulgar 
remained  near  the  royal  person,  accompanying  the  queen  in  her  various 
progresses  though  the  kingdom,  as  well  as  in  her  military  expeditions  into 
the  Moorish  territory.  He  was  consequently  an  eye-witness  of  many  of 
the  warlike  scenes  which  he  describes,  and,  from  his  situation  at  the  court, 
had  access  to  the  most  ample  and  accredited  sources  of  information.  It 
is  probable  he  did  not  survive  the  capture  of  Granada,  as  his  history  falls 
somewhat  short  of  that  event.  Pulgar’s  Chronicle,  in  the  portion  contain- 
ing a retrospective  survey  of  events  previous  to  1482,  may  be  charged  with 
gross  inaccuracy.  But,  in  all  the  subsequent  period,  it  may  be  received  as 
perfectly  authentic,  and  has  all  the  air  of  impartiality.  Every  circumstance 
relating  to  the  conduct  of  the  war,  is  developed  with  equal  fulness  and  pre- 
cision. His  manner  of  narration,  though  prolix,  is  perspicuous,  and  may 
compare  favorably  with  that  of  contemporary  writers.  His  sentiments 
may  compare  still  more  advantageously  in  point  of  liberality,  with  those  of 
the  Castilian  historians  of  a later  age. 

Pulgar  left  some  other  works,  of  which  his  commentary  on  the  ancient 
satire  of  “ Mingo  Revulgo,”  his  “ Letters,”  and  his  “ Claros  Varones,”  or 


MILITARY  POLICY  OF  THE  SOVEREIGNS. 


281 


sketches  of  illustrious  men,  have  alone  been  published.  The  last  con- 
tains notices  of  the  most  distinguished  individuals  of  the  court  of  Henry 
IV.,  which,  although  too  indiscriminately  encomiastic,  are  valuable  subsi- 
diaries to  an  accurate  acquaintance  with  the  prominent  actors  of  the  period. 
The  last  and  most  elegant  edition  of  Pulgar’s  Chronicle,  was  published  at 
Valencia,  in  1780,  from  the  press  of  Benito  Montfort,  in  large  folio. 

Antonio  de  Lebrija  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  erudite  scholars  of 
this  period.  He  was  born  in  the  province  of  Andalusia,  in  1444.  After 
the  usual  discipline  at  Salamanca,  he  went  at  the  age  of  nineteen  to  Italy, 
where  he  completed  his  education  in  the  university  of  Bologna.  He 
returned  to  Spain  ten  years  after,  richly  stored  with  classical  learning  and 
the  liberal  arts  that  were  then  taught  in  the  flourishing  schools  of  Italy. 
He  lost  no  time  in  dispensing  to  his  countrymen  his  various  acquisitions. 
He  was  appointed  to  the  two  chairs  of  grammar  and  poetry  (a  thing  un- 
precedented) in  the  university  of  Salamanca,  and  lectured  at  the  same  time 
in  these  distinct  departments.  He  was  subsequently  preferred  by  Cardinal 
Ximenes  to  a professorship  in  his  university  of  Alcala  de  Henares,  where 
his  services  were  liberally  requited,  and  where  he  enjoyed  the  entire  confi- 
dence of  his  distinguished  patron,  who  consulted  him  on  all  matters  affect- 
ing the  interests  of  the  institution.  Here  he  continued,  delivering  his  lec- 
tures and  expounding  the  ancient  classics  to  crowded  audiences,  to  the 
advanced  age  of  seventy-eight,  when  he  was  carried  off  by  an  attack  of 
apoplexy. 

Lebrija,  besides  his  oral  tuition,  composed  works  on  a great  variety  of 
subjects,  philological,  historical,  theological,  etc.  His  emendation  of  the 
sacred  text  was  visited  with  the  censure  of  the  Inquisition,  a circumstance 
which  will  not  operate  to  his  prejudice  with  posterity.  Lebrija  w7as  far 
from  being  circumscribed  by  the  narrow  sentiments  of  his  age.  He  was 
warmed  with  a generous  enthusiasm  for  letters,  which  kindled  a corre- 
sponding flame  in  the  bosoms  of  his  disciples,  among  whom  may  be  reck- 
oned some  of  the  brightest  names  in  the  literary  annals  of  the  period.  His 
instruction  effected  for  classical  literature  in  Spain,  what  the  labors  of  the 
great  Italian  scholars  of  the  fifteenth  century  did  for  it  in  their  country;  and 
he  was  rewarded  with  the  substantial  gratitude  of  his  own  age,  and  such 
empty  honors  as  could  be  rendered  by  posterity.  For  very  many  years, 
the  anniversary  of  his  death  was  commemorated  by  public  services,  and  a 
funeral  panegyric,  in  the  university  of  Alcala. 

The  circumstances  attending  the  composition  of  his  Latin  Chronicle,  so 
often  quoted  in  this  history,  are  very  curious.  Carbajal  says,  that  he  de- 
livered Pulgar’s  Chronicle,  after  that  writer’s  death,  into  Lebrija’s  hands 
for  the  purpose  of  being  translated  into  Latin.  The  latter  proceeded  in 
his  task,  as  far  as  the  year  i486.  His  history,  however,  can  scarcely  be 
termed  a translation,  since,  although  it  takes  up  the  same  thread  of  inci- 
dent, it  is  diversified  by  many  new  ideas  and  particular  facts.  This  un- 
finished performance  was  found  among  Lebrija’s  papers,  after  his  decease, 
with  a preface  containing  not  a word  of  acknowledgment  to  Pulgar.  It 
was  accordingly  published  for  the  first  time,  in  1545  (the  edition  referred 
to  in  this  history),  by  his  son  Sancho,  as  an  original  production  of  his 
father.  Twenty  years  after,  the  first  edition  of  Pulgar’s  original  Chronicle 
was  published  at  Valladolid,  from  the  copy  which  belonged  to  Lebrija,  by 
his  grandson  Antonio.  This  work  appeared  also  as  Lebrija’s.  Copies 
however  of  Pulgar’s  Chronicle  were  preserved  in  several  private  libraries; 
and  two  years  later,  1567,  his  just  claims  were  vindicated  by  an  edition  at 
Saragossa,  inscribed  with  his  name  as  its  author. 

Lebrija’s  reputation  has  sustained  some  injury  from  this  transaction, 


28- 


war  OF  GRANADA. 


though  most  undeservedly.  It  seems  probable,  that  he  adopted  Pulgar’s 
text  as  the  basis  of  his  own,  intending  to  continue  the  narrative  to  a later 
period.  His  unfinished  manuscript  being  found  among  his  papers  after  his 
death,  without  reference  to  any  authority,  was  naturally  enough  given  to 
the  world  as  entirely  his  production.  It  is  more  strange,  that  Pulgar’s 
own  Chronicle,  subsequently  printed  as  Lebrija’s,  should  have  contained 
no  allusion  to  its  real  author.  The  History,  although  composed  as  far  as 
it  goes  with  sufficient  elaboration  and  pomp  of  style,  is  one  that  adds,  on 
the  whole,  but  little  to  the  fame  of  Lebrija.  It  was  at  best  but  adding  a 
leaf  to  the  laurel  on  his  brow,  and  was  certainly  not  worth  a plagiarism. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


INTERNAL  AFFAIRS  OF  THE  KINGDOM. INQUISITION  IN 

ARAGON. 

1483—1487. 

Isabella  enforces  the  Laws. — Punishment  of  Ecclesiastics. — Inquisition  in 
Aragon. — Remonstrances  of  the  Cortes. — Conspiracy. — Assassination 
of  the  Inquisitor  Arbues. — Cruel  Persecutions — Inquisition  through- 
out Ferdinand’s  Dominions. 

In  such  intervals  of  leisure  as  occurred  amid  their  military 
operations,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  diligently  occupied 
with  the  interior  government  of  the  kingdom,  and  especially 
with  the  rigid  administration  of  justice,  the  most  difficult  of 
all  duties  in  an  imperfectly  civilized  state  of  society.  The 
queen  found  especial  demand  for  this  in  the  northen  provin- 
ces, whose  rude  inhabitants  were  little  used  to  subordination. 
She  compelled  the  great  nobles  to  lay  aside  their  arms,  and 
refer  their  disputes  to  legal  arbitration.  She  caused  a num- 
ber of  the  fortresses, which  were  still  garrisoned  by  the  baro- 
nial banditti,  to  be  razed  to  the  ground;  and  she  enforced 
the  utmost  severity  of  the  law  against  such  inferior  criminals 
as  violated  the  public  peace.1 

Even  ecclesiastical  immunities,  which  proved  so  effectual 
a protection  in  most  countries  at  this  period,  were  not  per- 
mitted to  screen  the  offender.  A remarkable  instance  of  this 
occurred  at  the  city  of  Truxillo,  in  i486.  An  inhabitant  of 
that  place  had  been  committed  to  prison  for  some  offence  by 
order  of  the  civil  magistrate.  Certain  priests,  relations  of  the 
offender,  alleged  that  his  religious  profession  exempted  him 
from  all  but  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction;  and,  as  the  authorities 
refused  to  deliver  him  up,  they  inflamed  the  populace  to  such 
a degree,  by  their  representations  of  the  insult  offered  to  the 
church,  that  they  rose  in  a body,  and,  forcing  the  prison,  set 
at  liberty  not  only  the  malefactor  in  question,  but  all  those 
confined  there.  The  queen  no  sooner  heard  of  this  outrage 
on  the  royal  authority,  than  she  sent  a detachment  of  her 
guard  to  Truxillo,  which  secured  the  persons  of  the  principal 


284 


INTERNAL  AFFAIRS. 


rioters,  some  of  whom  were  capitally  punished,  while  the 
ecclesiastics,  who  had  stirred  up  the  sedition,  were  banished 
the  realm.  Isabella,  while  by  her  example,  she  inculcated 
the  deepest  reverence  for  the  sacred  profession,  uniformly 
resisted  every  attempt  from  that  quarter  to  encroach  on  the 
royal  prerogative.  The  tendency  of  her  administration  was 
decidedly,  as  their  will  be  occasion  more  particularly  to  notice, 
to  abridge  the  authority,  which  that  body  had  exercised  in 
civil  matters  under  preceding  reigns.2 

Nothing  of  interest  occurred  in  the  foreign  relations  of  the 
kingdom,  during  the  period  embraced  by  the  preceding 
chapter;  except  perhaps  the  marriage  of  Catherine,  the 
young  queen  of  Navarre,  with  Jean  d’Albret,  a French  noble- 
man, whose  extensive  hereditary  domains,  in  the  southwest 
corner  of  France,  lay  adjacent  to  her  kingdom.  This  con- 
nection was  extremely  distasteful  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns, 
and  indeed  to  many  of  the  Navarrese,  who  were  desirous  of 
the  alliance  with  Castile.  This  was  ultimately  defeated  by 
the  queen-mother,  an  artful  woman,  who,  being  of  the  blood 
royal  of  France,  was  naturally  disposed  to  a union  with  that 
kingdom.  Ferdinand  did  not  neglect  to  maintain  such  an 
understanding  with  the  malcontents  of  Navarre,  as  should 
enable  him  to  counteract  any  undue  advantage  which  the 
French  monarch  might  derive  from  the  possession  of  this  key, 
as  it  were,  to  the  Castilian  territory.3 

In  Aragon,  two  circumstances  took  place  in  the  period 
under  review,  deserving  historical  notice.  The  first  relates 
to  an  order  of  the  Catalan  peasantry,  denominated  vassals 
de  remenza.  These  persons  were  subjected  to  a feudal  bond- 
age, which  had  its  origin  in  very  remote  ages,  but  which  had 
become  in  no  degree  mitigated,  while  the  peasantry  of  every 
other  part  of  Europe  had  been  gradually  rising  to  the  rank 
of  freemen.  The  grievous  nature  of  the  impositions  had  led 
to  repeated  rebellions  in  preceding  reigns.  At  length,  Ferdi- 
nand, after  many  fruitless  attempts,  at  a mediation  between 
these  unfortunate  people  and  their  arrogant  masters,  pre- 
vailed on  the  latter,  rather  by  force  of  authority  than  argu- 
ment, to  relinquish  the  extraordinary  seignorial  rights,  which 
they  had  hitherto  enjoyed,  in  consideration  of  a stipulated 
annual  payment  from  their  vassals.4 

The  other  circumstance  worthy  of  record,  but  not  in  like 
manner  creditable  to  the  character  of  the  sovereign,  is  the 
introduction  of  the  modern  Inquisition  into  Aragon.  The 
ancient  tribunal  had  existed  there,  as  has  been  stated  in  a 
previous  chapter,  since  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 


INQUISITION  IN  ARAGON. 


285 


but  seems  to  have  lost  all  its  venom  in  the  atmosphere  of  that 
free  country;  scarcely  assuming  a jurisdiction  beyond  that 
of  an  ordinary  ecclesiastical  court.  No  sooner,  however,  was 
the  institution  organized  on  its  new  basis  in  Castile,  than 
Ferdinand  resolved  on  its  introduction,  in  a similar  form,  in 
his  own  dominions. 

Measures  were  accordingly  taken  to  that  effect  in  a meet- 
ing of  a privy  council  convened  by  the  king  at  Taragona, 
during  the  session  of  the  cortes  in  that  place,  in  April,  1484; 
and  a royal  order  was  issued,  requiring  all  the  constituted  au- 
thorities throughout  the  kingdom  to  support  the  new  tribunal 
in  the  exercise  of  its  functions.  A Dominican  monk,  Fray 
Gaspard  Juglar,  and  Pedro  Arbues  de  Epila,  a canon  of  the 
metropolitan  church,  were  appointed  by  the  general,  Tor- 
quemada,  inquisitors  over  the  diocese  of  Saragossa;  and,  in 
the  month  of  September  following,  the  chief  justiciary  and 
the  other  great  officers  of  the  realm  took  the  prescribed 
oaths.5 

The  new  institution,  opposed  to  the  ideas  of  independence 
common  to  all  the  Aragonese,  was  particularly  offensive  to 
the  higher  orders,  many  of  whose  members,  including  per- 
sons filling  the  most  considerable  official  stations,  were  of 
Jewish  descent,  and  of  course  precisely  the  class  exposed  to 
the  scrutiny  of  the  Inquisition.  Without  difficulty,  therefore, 
the  cortes  was  persuaded  in  the  following  year  to  send  a depu- 
tation to  the  court  of  Rome,  and  another  to  Ferdinand, 
representing  the  repugnance  of  the  new  tribunal  to  the  lib- 
erties of  the  nation,  as  well  as  to  their  settled  opinions  and 
habits,  and  praying  that  its  operation  might  be  suspended  for 
the  present,  so  far  at  least  as  regarded  the  confiscation  of 
property,  which  it  rightly  regarded  as  the  moving  power  of 
the  whole  terrible  machinery.6 

Both  the  pope  and  the  king,  as  may  be  imagined,  turned 
a deaf  ear  to  these  remonstrances.  In  the  mean  while  the 
Inquisition  commenced  operations,  and  autos  da  fe  were 
celebrated  at  Saragossa,  with  all  their  usual  horrors,  in  the 
months  of  May  and  June,  in  1485.  The  discontented  Ara- 
gonese, despairing  of  redress  in  any  regular  way,  resolved  to 
intimidate  their  oppressors  by  some  appalling  act  of  violence. 
They  formed  a conspiracy  for  the  assassination  of  Arbues, 
the  most  odious  of  the  inquisitors  established  over  the  diocese 
of  Saragossa.  The  conspiracy,  set  on  foot  by  some  of  the 
principal  nobility,  was  entered  into  by  most  of  the  new  Chris- 
tians, or  persons  of  Jewish  extraction,  in  the  district.  A sum 
of  ten  thousand  reals  was  subscribed  to  defray  the  necessary 


286 


INTERNAL  AFFAIRS. 


expenses  for  the  execution  of  their  project.  This  was  not 
easy,  however,  since  Arbues,  conscious  of  the  popular  odium 
that  he  had  incurred,  protected  his  person  by  wearing  under 
his  monastic  robes  a suit  of  mail,  complete  even  to  the  helmet 
beneath  his  hood.  With  similar  vigilance,  he  defended,  also, 
every  avenue  to  his  sleeping  apartment.7 

At  length,  however,  the  conspirators  found  an  opportunity 
of  surprising  him  while  at  his  devotions.  Arbues  was  on 
his  knees  before  the  great  altar  of  the  cathedral,  near  mid- 
night, when  his  enemies,  who  had  entered  the  church  in  two 
separate  bodies,  suddenly  surrounded  him,  and  one  of  them 
wounded  him  in  the  arm  with  a dagger,  while  another  dealt 
him  a fatal  blow  in  the  back  of  his  neck.  The  priests,  who 
were  preparing  to  celebrate  matins  in  the  choir  of  the  church, 
hastened  to  the  spot;  but  not  before  the  assassins  had  effected 
their  escape.  They  transported  the  bleeding  body  of  the 
inquisitor  to  his  apartment,  where  he  survived  only  two  days, 
blessing  the  Lord,  that  he  had  been  permitted  to  seal  so 
good  a cause  with  his  blood.  The  whole  scene  will  readily 
remind  the  English  reader  of  the  assassination  of  Thomas  a 
Becket.8 

The  event  did  not  correspond  with  the  expectations  of  the 
conspirators.  Sectarian  jealousy  proved  stronger  than  hatred 
of  the  Inquisition.  The  populace,  ignorant  of  the  extent  or 
ultimate  object  of  the  conspiracy,  were  filled  with  vague 
apprehensions  of  an  insurrection  of  the  new  Christians,  who 
had  so  often  been  the  objects  of  outrage;  and  they  could 
only  be  appeased  by  the  archbishop  of  Saragossa,  riding 
through  the  streets,  and  proclaiming  that  no  time  should  be 
lost  in  detecting  and  punishing  the  assassins. 

This  promise  was  abundantly  fulfilled;  and  wide  was  the 
ruin  occasioned  by  the  indefatigable  zeal,  with  which  the 
bloodhounds  of  the  tribunal  followed  up  the  scent.  In  the 
course  of  his  persecution,  two  hundred  individuals  perished 
at  the  stake,  and  a still  greater  number  in  the  dungeons  of 
the  Inquisition;  and  there  was  scarcely  a noble  family  in 
Aragon  but  witnessed  one  or  more  of  its  members  condemned 
to  humiliating  penance  in  the  autos  da  fe.  The  immediate 
perpetrators  of  the  murder  were  all  hanged,  after  suffering 
the  amputation  of  their  right  hands.  One,  who  had  appeared 
as  evidence  against  the  rest,  under  assurance  of  pardon,  had 
his  sentence  so  far  commuted,  that  his  hand  was  not  cut  off 
till  after  he  had  been  hanged.  It  was  thus  that  the  Holy 
Office  interpreted  its  promises  of  grace.9 

Arbues  received  all  the  honors  of  a martyr.  His  ashes 


INQUISITION  IN  ARAGON. 


287 


were  interred  on  the  spot  where  he  had  been  assassinated.10 
A superb  mausoleum  was  erected  over  them,  and,  beneath  his 
effigy,  a base-relief  was  sculptured  representing  his  tragical 
death,  with  an  inscription  containing  a suitable  denunciation 
of  the  race  of  Israel.  And  at  length,  when  the  lapse  of 
nearly  two  centuries  had  supplied  the  requisite  amount  of 
miracles,  the  Spanish  Inquisition  had  the  glory  of  adding  a 
new  saint  to  the  calendar,  by  the  canonization  of  the  martyr 
under  Pope  Alexander  the  Seventh,  in  1664. 11 

The  failure  of  the  attempt  to  shake  off  the  tribunal,  served 
only,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  to  establish  it  more  firmly  than 
before.  Efforts  at  resistance  were  subsequently,  but  inef- 
fectually, made  in  other  parts  of  Aragon,  and  in  Valencia 
and  Catalonia.  It  was  not  established  in  the  latter  province 
till  1487,  and  some  years  later  in  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  the 
Balearic  Isles.  Thus  Ferdinand  had  the  melancholy  satis- 
faction of  riveting  the  most  galling  yoke  ever  devised  by 
fanaticism,  round  the  necks  of  a people,  who  till  that  period 
had  enjoyed  probably  the  greatest  degree  of  constitutional 
freedom  which  the  world  had  witnessed 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. SURRENDER  OF  VELEZ  MALAGA  — SIEGE 

AND  CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 

1487. 

Narrow  Escape  of  Ferdinand  before  Velez. — Malaga  invested  by  Sea  and 
Land. — Brilliant  Spectacle. — The  Queen  visits  the  Camp. — Attempt 
to  assassinate  the  Sovereigns. — Distress  and  Resolution  of  the  Be- 
sieged.— Enthusiasm  of  the  Christians. — Outworks  carried  by  them. — 
Proposals  for  Surrender. — Haughty  Demeanor  of  Ferdinand. — Ma- 
laga surrenders  at  Discretion. — Cruel  Policy  of  the  Victors. 

Before  commencing  operations  against  Malaga,  it  was 
thought  expedient  by  the  Spanish  council  of  war  to  obtain 
possession  of  Velez  Malaga,  situated  about  five  leagues  dis- 
tant from  the  former.  This  strong  town  stood  along  the 
southern  extremity  of  a range  of  mountains  that  extend  to 
Granada.  Its  position  afforded  an  easy  communication  with 
that  capital,  and  obvious  means  of  annoyance  to  an  enemy 
interposed  between  itself  and  the  adjacent  city  of  Malaga. 
The  reduction  of  this  place,  therefore,  became  the  first  object 
of  the  campaign. 

The  forces  assembled  at  Cordova,  consisting  of  the  levies 
of  the  Andalusian  cities  principally,  of  the  retainers  of  the 
great  nobility,  and  of  the  well-appointed  chivalry  which 
thronged  from  all  quarters  of  the  kingdom,  amounted  on 
this  occasion,  to  twelve  thousand  horse  and  forty  thousand 
foot;  a number,  which  sufficiently  attests  the  unslackened 
ardor  of  the  nation  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  On  the 
7th  of  April,  King  Ferdinand,  putting  himself  at  the  head 
of  this  formidable  host,  quitted  the  fair  city  of  Cordova  amid 
the  cheering  acclamations  of  its  inhabitants,  although  these 
were  somewhat  damped  by  the  ominous  occurrence  of  an 
earthquake,  which  demolished  a part  of  the  royal  residence, 
among  other  edifices,  during  the  preceding  night.  The 
route,  after  traversing  the  Yeguas  and  the  old  town  of  Ante- 
quera,  struck  into  a wild,  hilly  country,  that  stretches  toward 
Velez.  The  rivers  were  so  much  swollen  by  excessive  raim', 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


289 

and  the  passes  so  rough  and  difficult  that  the  army  in  part 
of  its  march  advanced  only  a league  a day;  and  on  one  occa- 
sion, when  no  suitable  place  occurred  for  encampment  for 
the  space  of  five  leagues,  the  men  fainted  with  exhaustion, 
and  the  beasts  dropped  down  dead  in  the  harness.  At 
length,  on  the  17th  of  April,  the  Spanish  army  sat  down 
before  Velez  Malaga,  where  in  a few  days  they  were  joined 
by  the  lighter  pieces  of  their  battering  ordnance;  the  roads, 
notwithstanding  the  immense  labor  expended  on  them,  being 
found  impracticable  for  the  heavier.1 

The  Moors  were  aware  of  the  importance  of  Velez  to  the 
security  of  Malaga.  The  sensation  excited  in  Granada  by 
the  tidings  of  its  danger  was  so  strong,  that  the  old  chief, 
El  Zagal,  found  it  necessary  to  make  an  effort  to  relieve  the 
beleaguered  city,  notwithstanding  the  critical  posture  in 
which  his  absence  would  leave  his  affairs  in  the  capital. 
Dark  clouds  of  the  enemy  were  seen  throughout  the  day 
mustering  along  the  heights,  which  by  night  were  illumined 
with  a hundred  fires.  Ferdinand's  utmost  vigilance  was 
required  for  the  protection  of  his  camp  against  the  am- 
buscades and  nocturnal  sallies  of  his  wily  foe.  At  length, 
however,  El  Zagal  having  been  foiled  in  a well-concerted 
attempt  to  surprise  the  Christian  quarters  by  night,  was 
driven  across  the  mountains  by  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  and 
compelled  to  retreat  on  his  capital,  completely  baffled  in  his 
enterprise.  There  the  tidings  of  his  disaster  had  preceded 
him.  The  fickle  populace,  with  whom  misfortune  passes  for 
misconduct,  unmindful  of  his  former  successes,  now  hastened 
to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  his  rival,  Abdallah,  and  closed 
the  gates  against  him;  and  the  unfortunate  chief  withdrew 
to  Guadix,  which,  with  Almeria,  Baza,  and  some  less  con- 
siderable places,  still  remained  faithful.2 

Ferdinand  conducted  the  siege  all  the  while  with  his  usual 
vigor,  and  spared  no  exposure  of  his  person  to  peril  or 
fatigue.  On  one  occasion,  seeing  a party  of  Christians 
retreating  in  disorder  before  a squadron  of  the  enemy,  who 
had  surprised  them  while  fortifying  an  eminence  near  the 
city,  the  king,  who  was  at  dinner  in  his  tent,  rushed  out  with 
no  other  defensive  armor  than  his  cuirass,  and,  leaping  on 
his  horse,  charged  briskly  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy,  and 
succeeded  in  rallying  his  own  men.  In  the  midst  of  the 
rencontre,  however,  when  he  had  discharged  his  lance,  he 
found  himself  unable  to  extricate  his  sword  from  the  scab- 
bard which  hung  from  the  saddle-bow.  At  this  moment  he 
was  assaulted  by  several  Moors,  and  must  have  been  either 
Vol.  I. — 13. 


290 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


slain  or  taken,  but  for  the  timely  rescue  of  the  marquis  of 
Cadiz,  and  a brave  cavalier,  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  who  gal- 
loping up  to  the  spot  with  their  attendants,  succeeded  after 
a sharp  skirmish  in  beating  off  the  enemy.  Ferdinand’s 
nobles  remonstrated  with  him  on  this  wanton  exposure  of 
his  person,  representing  that  he  could  serve  them  more  effec- 
tually with  his  head  than  his  hand.  But  he  answered,  that 
“he  could  not  stop  to  calculate  chances,  when  his  subjects 
were  perilling  their  lives  for  his  sake;”  a reply,  says  Pulgar, 
which  endeared  him  to  the  whole  army.3 

At  length,  the  inhabitants  of  Velez,  seeing  the  ruin  impend- 
ing from  the  bombardment  of  the  Christians,  whose  rigorous 
blockade  both  by  sea  and  land  excluded  all  hopes  of  relief 
from  without,  consented  to  capitulate  on  the  usual  conditions 
of  security  to  persons,  property,  and  religion.  The  capitu- 
lation of  this  place,  April  27th,  1487,  was  followed  by  that  of 
more  than  twenty  places  of  inferior  note  lying  between  it  and 
Malaga,  so  that  the  approaches  to  this  latter  city  were  now 
left  open  to  the  victorious  Spaniards.4 

This  ancient  city,  which,  under  the  Spanish  Arabs  in  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  formed  the  capital  of  an 
independent  principality,  was  second  only  to  the  metropolis 
itself,  in  the  kingdom  of  Granada.  Its  fruitful  environs 
furnished  abundant  articles  of  export,  while  its  commodious 
port  on  the  Mediterranean  opened  a traffic  with  the  various 
countries  washed  by  that  inland  sea,  and  with  the  remoter 
regions  of  India.  Owing  to  these  advantages,  the  inhabi- 
tants acquired  unbounded  opulence,  which  showed  itself  in 
the  embellishments  of  their  city,  whose  light  forms  of  archi- 
tecture, mingling  after  the  eastern  fashion  with  odoriferous 
gardens  and  fountains  of  sparkling  water,  presented  an  ap- 
pearance most  refreshing  to  the  senses  in  this  sultry  climate  & 

The  city  was  encompassed  by  fortifications  of  great  strength, 
and  in  perfect  repair.  It  was  commanded  by  a citadel,  con- 
nected by  a covered  way  with  a second  fortress  impregnable 
from  its  position,  denominated  Gebalfaro,  which  stood  along 
the  declivities  of  the  bold  sierra  of  the  Axarquia,  whose 
defiles  had  proved  so  disastrous  to  the  Christians.  The  city 
lay  between  two  spacious  suburbs,  the  one  on  the  land  side 
being  also  encircled  by  a formidable  wall;  and  the  other 
declining  toward  the  sea,  showing  an  expanse  of  olive,  orange, 
and  pomegranate  gardens,  intermingled  with  the  rich  vine- 
yards that  furnished  the  celebrated  staple  for  its  export. 

Malaga  was  well  prepared  for  a siege  by  supplies  of  artil- 
lery and  ammunition.  Its  ordinary  garrison  was  reinforced 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


291 


by  volunteers  from  the  neighboring  towns,  and  by  a corps 
of  African  mercenaries,  Gomeres,  as  they  were  called,  men 
of  ferocious  temper,  but  of  tried  valor  and  military  disci- 
pline. The  command  of  this  important  post  had  been  intrusted 
by  El  Zagal  to  a noble  Moor,  named  Hamet  Zeli,  whose 
renown  in  the  present  war  had  been  established  by  his  reso- 
lute defence  of  Ronda.6 

Ferdinand,  while  lying  before  Velez,  received  intelligence 
that  many  of  the  wealthy  burghers  of  Malaga  were  inclined 
to  capitulate  at  once,  rather  than  hazard  the  demolition  of 
their  city  by  an  obstinate  resistance.  He  instructed  the 
marquis  of  Cadiz,  therefore,  to  open  a negotiation  with 
Hamet  Zeli,  authorizing  him  to  make  the  most  liberal  offers 
to  the  alcayde  himself,  as  well  as  his  garrison,  and  the  prin- 
cipal citizens  of  the  place,  on  condition  of  immediate  surren- 
der. The  sturdy  chief,  however,  rejected  the  proposal  with 
disdain,  replying,  that  he  had  been  commissioned  by  his 
master  to  defend  the  place  to  the  last  extremity,  and  that 
the  Christian  king  could  not  offer  a bribe  large  enough  to 
make  him  betray  his  trust.  Ferdinand,  finding  little  prospect 
of  operating  on  this  Spartan  temper,  broke  up  his  camp 
before  Velez,  on  the  7th  of  May,  and  advanced  with  his 
whole  army  as  far  as  Bezmillana,  a place  on  the  sea-board 
about  two  leagues  distant  from  Malaga.7 

The  line  of  march  now  lay  through  a valley  commanded 
at  the  extremity  nearest  the  city  by  two  eminences;  the  one 
on  the  sea-coast,  the  other  facing  the  fortress  of  the  Gebal- 
faro,  and  forming  part  of  the  wild  sierra  which  overshadowed 
Malaga  on  the  north.  The  enemy  occupied  both  these  im- 
portant positions.  A corps  of  Galicians  were  sent  forward 
to  dislodge  them  from  the  eminence  toward  the  sea.  But  it 
failed  in  the  assault,  and,  notwithstanding  it  was  led  up  a 
second  time  by  the  commander  of  Leon  and  the  brave  Gar- 
cilasso  de  la  Vega,8  was  again  repulsed  by  the  intrepid  foe. 

A similar  fate  attended  the  assault  on  the  sierra,  which 
was  conducted  by  the  troops  of  the  royal  household.  They 
wrere  driven  back  on  the  vanguard,  which  had  halted  in  the 
valley  under  command  of  the  grand  master  of  St.  James, 
prepared  to  support  the  attack  on  either  side.  Being  rein- 
forced, the  Spaniards  returned  to  the  charge  with  the  most 
determined  resolution.  They  were  encountered  by  the 
enemy  with  equal  spirit.  The  latter,  throwing  away  their 
lances,  precipitated  themselves  on  the  ranks  of  the  assail- 
ants, making  use  only  of  their  daggers,  grappling  closely 
man  to  man,  till  both  rolled  promiscuously  together  down 


292 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


the  steep  sides  of  the  ravine.  No  mercy  was  asked,  or  shown. 
None  thought  of  sparing  or  of  spoiling,  for  hatred,  says  the 
chronicler,  was  stronger  than  avarice.  The  main  body  of 
the  army,  in  the  mean  while,  pent  up  in  the  valley,  were  com- 
pelled to  witness  the  mortal  conflict,  and  listen  to  the  exult- 
ing cries  of  the  enemy,  which,  after  the  Moorish  custom,  rose 
high  and  shrill  above  the  din  of  battle,  without  being  able  to 
advance  a step  in  support  of  their  companions,  who  were 
again  forced  to  give  way  before  their  impetuous  adversaries, 
and  fall  back  on  the  vanguard  under  the  grand  master  of 
St.  James.  Here,  however,  they  speedily  rallied;  and,  being 
reinforced,  advanced  to  the  charge  a third  time,  with  such 
inflexible  courage  as  bore  down  all  opposition,  and  compelled 
the  enemy,  exhausted,  or  rather  overpowered  by  superior 
numbers,  to  abandon  his  position.  At  the  same  time  the 
rising  ground  on  the  seaside  was  carried  by  the  Spaniards 
under  the  commander  of  Leon  and  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega, 
who,  dividing  their  forces,  charged  the  Moors  so  briskly  in 
front  and  rear,  that  they  were  compelled  to  retreat  on  the 
neighboring  fortress  of  Gebalfaro.9 

As  it  was  evening  before  these  advantages  were  obtained, 
the  army  did  not  defile  into  the  plains  around  Malaga,  before 
the  following  morning,  when  dispositions  were  made  for  its 
encampment.  The  eminence  on  the  sierra,  so  bravely  con- 
tested, was  assigned  as  the  post  of  greatest  danger  to  the 
marquis  duke  of  Cadiz.  It  was  protected  by  strong  works 
surmounted  by  artillery,  and  a corps  of  two  thousand  five 
hundred  horse  and  fourteen  thousand  foot,  was  placed  under 
the  immediate  command  of  that  nobleman.  A line  of  defence 
was  constructed  along  the  declivity  from  this  redoubt  to  the 
sea-shore.  Similar  works,  consisting  of  a deep  trench  and 
palisades,  or,  where  the  soil  was  too  rocky  to  admit  of  them, 
of  an  embankment  or  mound  of  earth,  were  formed  in  front 
of  the  encampment,  which  embraced  the  whole  circuit  of  the 
city;  and  the  blockade  was  completed  by  a fleet  of  armed 
vessels,  galleys  and  caravels,  which  rode  in  the  harbor  under 
the  command  of  the  Catalan  admiral,  Requesens,  and  effect- 
ually cut  off  all  communication  by  water.10 

The  old  chronicler  Bernaldez  warm§  at  the  aspect  of  the 
fair  city  of  Malaga,  thus  encompassed  by  Christian  legions, 
whose  deep  lines,  stretching  far  over  hill  and  valley,  reached 
quite  round  from  one  arm  of  the  sea  to  the  other.  In  the 
midst  of  this  brilliant  encampment  was  seen  the  royal  pavi- 
lion, proudly  displaying  the  united  banners  of  Castile  and 
Aragon,  and  forming  so  conspicuous  a mark  for  the  enemy’s 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


293 


artillery,  that  Ferdinand,  after  imminent  hazard,  was  at 
length  compelled  to  shift  his  quarters.  The  Christians  were 
not  slow  in  erecting  counter  batteries;  but  the  work  was 
obliged  to  be  carried  on  at  night,  in  order  to  screen  them 
from  the  fire  of  the  besieged.11 

The  first  operations  of  the  Spaniards  were  directed  against 
the  suburb,  on  the  land  side  of  the  city.  The  attack  was 
intrusted  to  the  count  of  Cifuentes,  the  nobleman  who  had 
been  made  prisoner  in  the  affair  of  the  Axarquia,  and  subse- 
quently ransomed.  The  Spanish  ordnance  was  served  with 
such  effect,  that  a practicable  breach  was  soon  made  in  the 
wall.  The  combatants  now  poured  their  murderous  volleys 
on  each  other  through  the  opening,  and  at  length  met  on 
the  ruins  of  the  breach.  After  a desperate  struggle  the  Moors 
gave  way.  The  Christians  rushed  into  the  enclosure,  at  the 
same  time  effecting  a lodgment  on  the  rampart;  and,  although 
a part  of  it,  undermined  by  the  enemy,  gave  way  with  a ter- 
rible crash,  they  still  kept  possession  of  the  remainder,  and 
at  length  drove  their  antagonists,  who  sullenly  retreated  step 
by  step  within  the  fortifications  of  the  city.  The  lines  were 
then  drawn  close  around  the  place.  Every  avenue  of  com- 
munication was  strictly  guarded,  and  every  preparation  was 
made  for  reducing  the  town  by  regular  blockade.12 

In  addition  to  the  cannon  brought  round  by  water  from 
Velez,  the  heavier  lombards,  which  from  the  difficulty  of 
transportation  had  been  left  during  the  late  siege  at  Ante- 
quera,  were  now  conducted  across  roads,  levelled  for  the 
purpose,  to  the  camp.  Supplies  of  marble  bullets  were  also 
brought  from  the  ancient  and  depopulated  city  of  Algezira, 
where  they  had  lain  ever  since  its  capture  in  the  preceding 
century  by  Alfonso  the  Eleventh.  The  camp  was  filled  with 
operatives,  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  balls  and  powder, 
which  were  stored  in  subterranean  magazines,  and  in  the 
fabrication  of  those  various  kinds  of  battering  enginery,  which 
continued  in  use  long  after  the  introduction  of  gunpowder.13 

During  the  early  part  of  the  siege,  the  camp  experienced 
some  temporary  inconvenience  from  the  occasional  interrup- 
tion of  the  supplies  transported  by  water.  Rumors  of  the 
appearance  of  the  plague  in  some  of  the  adjacent  villages 
caused  additional  uneasiness;  and  deserters,  who  passed  into 
Malaga,  reported  these  particulars  with  the  usual  exaggera- 
tion, and  encouraged  the  besieged  to  persevere,  by  the  assur- 
ance that  Ferdinand  could  not  much  longer  keep  the  field, 
and  that  the  queen  had  actually  written  to  advise  his  break- 
ing up  the  camp.  Under  these  circumstances,  Ferdinand 


294 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


saw  at  once  the  importance  of  the  queen’s  presence  in  order 
to  dispel  the  delusion  of  the  enemy,  and  to  give  new  heart  to 
his  soldiers.  He  accordingly  sent  a message  to  Cordova, 
where  she  was  holding  her  court,  requesting  her  appearance 
in  the  camp. 

Isabella  had  proposed  to  join  her  husband  before  Velez, 
on  receiving  tidings  of  El  Zagal's  march  from  Granada,  and 
had  actually  enforced  levies  of  all  persons  capable  of  bearing 
arms,  between  twenty  and  seventy  years  of  age,  throughout 
Andalusia,  but  subsequently  disbanded  them,  on  learning  the 
discomfiture  of  the  Moorish  army.  Without  hesitation,  she 
now  set  forward,  accompanied  by  the  cardinal  of  Spain  and 
other  dignitaries  of  the  church,  together  with  the  Infanta 
Isabella,  and  a courtly  train  of  ladies  and  cavaliers  in  attend- 
ance on  her  person.  She  was  received  at  a short  distance 
from  the  camp  by  the  marquis  of  Cadiz  and  the  grand-master 
of  St.  James,  and  escorted  to  her  quarters  amidst  the  enthu- 
siastic greetings  of  the  soldiery.  Hope  now  brightened  every 
countenance.  A grace  seemed  to  be  shed  over  the  rugged 
features  of  war;  and  the  young  gallants  thronged  from  all 
quarters  to  the  camp,  eager  to  win  the  guerdon  of  valor  from 
the  hands  of  those  from  whom  it  is  most  grateful  to  receive 
it.14 

Ferdinand,  who  had  hitherto  brought  into  action  only  the 
lighter  pieces  of  ordnance,  from  a willingness  to  spare  the 
noble  edifices  of  the  city,  now  pointed  his  heaviest  guns 
against  its  walls.  Before  opening  his  fire,  however,  he  again 
summoned  the  place,  offering  the  usual  liberal  terms  in  case 
of  immediate  compliance,  and  engaging  otherwise,  “with  the 
blessing  of  God,  to  make  them  all  slaves!”  But  the  heart 
of  the  alcayde  was  hardened  like  that  of  Pharaoh,  says  the 
Andalusian  chronicler,  and  the  people  were  swelled  with 
vain  hopes,  so  that  their  ears  were  closed  against  the  pro- 
posal; orders  were  even  issued  to  punish  with  death  any  at- 
tempt at  a parley.  On  the  contrary,  they  made  answer  by 
a more  lively  cannonade  than  before,  along  the  whole  line  of 
ramparts  and  fortresses  which  overhung  the  city.  Sallies 
were  also  made  at  almost  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night  on 
every  assailable  point  of  the  Christian  lines,  so  that  the  camp 
was  kept  in  perpetual  alarm.  In  one  of  the  nocturnal  sallies, 
a body  of  two  thousand  men  from  the  castle  of  Gebalfaro 
succeeded  in  surprising  the  quarters  of  the  marquis  of  Cadiz, 
who,  with  his  followers,  was  exhausted  by  fatigue  and  watch- 
ing, during  the  two  preceding  nights.  The  Christians,  be- 
wildered with  the  sudden  tumult  which  broke  their  slumber, 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


295 


were  thrown  into  the  greatest  confusion;  and  the  marquis,  who 
rushed  half  armed  from  his  tent,  found  no  little  difficulty  in 
bringing  them  to  order,  and  beating  off  the  assailants,  after 
receiving  a wound  in  the  arm  from  an  arrow;  while  he  had 
a still  narrower  escape  from  the  ball  of  an  arquebus,  that 
penetrated  his  buckler  and  hit  him  below  the  cuirass,  but 
fortunately  so  much  spent  as  to  do  him  no  injury.15 

The  Moors  were  not  unmindful  of  the  importance  of  Ma- 
laga, or  the  gallantry  with  which  it  was  defended.  They 
made  several  attempts  to  relieve  it,  whose  failure  was  less 
owing  to  the  Christians  than  to  treachery  and  their  own  mis- 
erable feuds.  A body  of  cavalry,  which  El  Zagal  despatched 
from  Guadix  to  throw  succors  into  the  beleaguered  city,  was 
encountered  and  cut  to  pieces  by  a superior  force  of  the 
young  king  Abdallah,  who  consummated  his  baseness  by 
sending  an  embassy  to  the  Christian  camp,  charged  with  a 
present  of  Arabian  horses  sumptuously  caparisoned  to  Ferdi- 
nand, and  of  costly  silks  and  oriental  perfumes  to  the  queen; 
at  the  same  time  complimenting  them  on  their  successes,  and 
soliciting  the  continuance  of  their  friendly  dispositions  toward 
himself.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  requited  this  act  of  humilia- 
tion by  securing  to  Abdallah’s  subjects  the  right  of  culti- 
vating their  fields  in  quiet,  and  of  trafficking  with  the  Span- 
iards in  every  commodity,  save  military  stores.  At  this  paltry 
price  did  the  dastard  prince  consent  to  stay  his  arm,  at  the 
only  moment  when  it  could  be  used  effectually  for  his  coun- 
try.16 

More  serious  consequences  had  like  to  have  resulted  from 
an  attempt  made  by  another  party  of  Moors  from  Guadix  to 
penetrate  the  Christian  lines.  Part  of  them  succeeded,  and 
threw  themselves  into  the  besieged  city.  The  remainder  were 
cut  in  pieces.  There  was  one,  however,  who  making  no  show 
of  resistance,  was  made  prisoner  without  harm  to  his  person. 
Being  brought  before  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  he  informed  that 
nobleman,  that  he  could  make  some  important  disclosures 
to  the  sovereigns.  He  was  accordingly  conducted  to  the 
royal  tent;  but,  as  Ferdinand  was  taking  his  siesta,  in  the 
sultry  hour  of  the  day,  the  queen,  moved  by  divine  inspira- 
tion, according  to  the  Castilian  historian,  deferred  the  audi- 
ence till  her  husband  should  awake,  and  commanded  the 
prisoner  to  be  detained  in  the  adjoining  tent.  This  was  oc- 
cupied by  Dona  Beatriz  de  Bobadilla,  marchioness  of  Moya, 
Isabella’s  early  friend,  who  happened  to  be  at  that  time  en- 
gaged in  discourse  with  a Potuguese  nobleman,  Don  Alvaro, 
son  of  the  duke  of  Braganza.17 


296 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


The  Moor  did  not  understand  the  Castilian  language,  and, 
deceived  by  the  rich  attire  and  courtly  bearing  of  these  per- 
sonages, he  mistook  them  for  the  king  and  queen.  While  in 
the  act  of  refreshing  himself  with  a glass  of  water,  he  sud- 
denly drew  a dagger  from  beneath  the  broad  folds  of  his 
albornoz , or  Moorish  mantle,  which  he  had  been  incautiously 
suffered  to  retain,  and,  darting  on  the  Portuguese  prince, 
gave  him  a deep,  wound  on  the  head;  and  then,  turning  like 
lightening  on  the  marchioness,  aimed  a stroke  at  her,  which 
fortunately  glanced  without  injury,  the  point  of  the  weapon 
being  turned  by  the  heavy  embroidery  of  her  robes.  Before 
he  could  repeat  his  blow,  the  Moorish  Scaevola,  with  a fate 
very  different  from  that  of  his  Roman  prototype,  was  pierced 
with  a hundred  wounds  by  the  attendants,  who  rushed  to  the 
spot,  alarmed  by  the  cries  of  the  marchioness,  and  his  man- 
gled remains  were  soon  after  discharged  from  a catapult  into 
the  city;  a foolish  bravado,  which  the  besieged  requited  by 
slaying  a Galician  gentleman,  and  sending  his  corpse  astride 
upon  a mule  through  the  gates  of  the  town  into  the  Christian 
camp.18 

This  daring  attempt  on  the  lives  of  the  king  and  queen 
spread  general  consternation  throughout  the  army.  Precau- 
tions were  taken  for  the  future,  by  ordinances  prohibiting 
the  introduction  of  any  unknown  person  armed,  or  any  Moor 
whatever,  into  the  royal  quarters;  and  the  body-guard  was 
augmented  by  the  addition  of  two  hundred  hidalgos  of  Cas- 
tile and  Aragon,  who,  with  their  retainers,  were  to  keep  con- 
stant watch  over  the  persons  of  the  sovereigns. 

Meanwhile,  the  city  of  Malaga,  whose  natural  population 
was  greatly  swelled  by  the  influx  of  its  foreign  auxiliaries, 
began  to  be  straitened  for  supplies,  while  its  distress  was  aggra* 
vated  by  the  spectacle  of  abundance  which  reigned  through- 
out the  Spanish  camp.  Still,  however,  the  people,  overawed 
by  the  soldiery,  did  not  break  out  into  murmurs,  nor  did 
they  relax  in  any  degree  the  pertinacity  of  their  resistance. 
Their  drooping  spirits  were  cheered  by  the  predictions  of  a 
fanatic,  who  promised  that  they  should  eat  the  grain  which 
they  saw  in  the  Christian  camp;  a prediction,  which  came  to 
be  verified,  like  most  others  that  are  verified  at  all,  in  a very 
different  sense  from  that  intended  or  understood. ' 

The  incessant  cannonade  kept  up  by  the  besieging  army, 
in  the  meantime,  so  far  exhausted  their  ammunition,  that 
they  were  constrained  to  seek  supplies  from  the  most  distant 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  from  foreign  countries.  The  arrb 
val  of  two  Flemish  transports  at  this  juncture,  from  the 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


297 

emperor  of  Germany,  whose  interest  had  been  roused  in  the 
crusade,  afforded  a seasonable  reinforcement  of  military 
stores  and  munitions. 

The  obstinate  defence  of  Malaga  had  given  the  siege  such 
celebrity,  that  volunteers,  eager  to  share  in  it,  flocked  from 
all  parts  of  the  Peninsula  to  the  royal  standard.  Among 
others,  the  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  who  had  furnished  his 
quota  of  troops  at  the  opening  of  the.  campaign,  now  arrived 
in  person  with  a reinforcement,  together  with  a hundred  gal- 
leys freighted  with  supplies,  and  a loan  of  twenty  .thousand 
doblas  of  gold  to  the  sovereigns  for  the  expenses  of  the  war. 
Such  was  the  deep  interest  in  it  excited  throughout  the  na- 
tion, and  the  alacrity  which  every  order  of  men  exhibited  in 
supporting  its  enormous  burdens.19 

The  Castilian  army,  swelled  by  these  daily  augmentations, 
varied  in  its  amount,  according  to  different  estimates,  from 
sixty  to  ninety  thousand  men.  Throughout  this  immense 
host,  the  most  perfect  discipline  was  maintained.  Gaming 
was  restrained  by  ordinances  interdicting  the  use  of  dice  and 
cards,  of  which  the  lower  orders  were  passionately  fond. 
Blasphemy  was  severely  punished.  Prostitutes,  the  common 
pest  of  a camp,  were  excluded;  and  so  entire  was  the  subor- 
dination, that  not  a knife  was  drawn,  and  scarcely  a brawl 
occurred,  says  the  historian,  among  the  motley  multitude. 
Besides  the  higher  ecclesiastics  who  attended  the  court,  the 
camp  was  well  supplied  with  holy  men,  priests,  friars,  and 
the  chaplains  of  the  great  nobility,  who  performed  the  exer- 
cises of  religion  in  their  respective  quarters  with  all  the  pomp 
and  splendor  of  the  Roman  Catholic  worship;  exalting  the 
imaginations  of  the  soldiers  into  the  high  devotional  feeling, 
which  became  those  who  were  fighting  the  battles  of  the 
Cross.20 

Hitherto,  Ferdinand,  relying  on  the  blockade,  and  yielding 
to  the  queen’s  desire  to  spare  the  lives  of  her  soldiers,  had 
formed  no  regular  plan  of  assault  upon  the  town.  But,  as 
the  season  rolled  on  without  the  least  demonstration  of  sub- 
mission on  the  part  of  the  besieged,  he  resolved  to  storm  the 
works,  which,  if  attended  by  no  other  consequences,  might  at 
least  serve  to  distress  the  enemy,  and  hasten  the  hour  of  sur- 
render. Large  wooden  towers  on  rollers  were  accordingly 
constructed,  and  provided  with  an  apparatus  of  drawbridges 
and  ladders,  which,  when  brought  near  to  the  ramparts,  would 
open  a descent  into  the  city.  Galleries  were  also  wrought, 
some  for  the  purpose  of  penetrating  into  the  place,  and  others 
to  sap  the  foundations  of  the  walls.  The  whole  of  these 
13* 


298 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


operations  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  Francisco 
Ramirez,  the  celebrated  engineer  of  Madrid. 

•But  the  Moors  anticipated  the  completion  of  these  formid- 
able preparations  by  a brisk,  well  concerted  attack  on  all 
points  of  the  Spanish  lines.  They  countermined  the  assail- 
ants, and,  encountering  them  in  the  subterranean  passages, 
drove  them  back,  and  demolished  the  frame-work  of  the 
galleries.  At  the  same  time,  a little  squadron  of  armed  ves- 
sels, which  had  been  riding  in  safety  under  the  guns  of  the 
city,  pushed  out  and  engaged  the  Spanish  fleet..  Thus  the 
battle  raged  with  fire  and  sword,  above  and  under  ground, 
along  the  ramparts,  the  ocean,  and  the  land,  at  the  same 
time.  Even  Pulgar  cannot  withhold  his  tribute  of  admira- 
tion to  this  unconquerable  spirit  in  an  enemy,  wasted  by  all 
the  extremities  of  famine  and  fatigue.  “Who  does  not  mar- 
vel,” he  says,  ‘‘at  the  bold  heart  of  these  infidels  in  battle, 
their  prompt  obedience  to  their  chiefs,  their  dexterity  in  the 
wiles  of  war,  their  patience  under  privation,  and  undaunted 
perseverance  in  their  purposes?”  21 

A circumstance  occurred  in  a sortie  from  the  city,  indica- 
ting a trait  of  character  worth  recording.  A noble  Moor, 
named  Abrahen  Zenete  fell  in  with  a number  of  Spanish 
children  who  had  wandered  from  their  quarters.  Without 
injuring  them,  he  touched  them  gently  with  the  handle  of 
his  lance,  saying,  “Get  ye  gone,  varlets,  to  your  mothers.” 
On  being  rebuked  by  his  comrades,  who  inquired  why  he 
had  let  them  escape  so  easily,  he  replied,  “Because  I saw  no 
beard  upon  their  chins.”  “An  example  of  magnanimity,” 
says  the  Curate  of  Los  Palacios,  “ truly  wonderful  in  a hea- 
then, and  which  might  have  reflected  credit  on  a Christian 
hidalgo.”22 

But  no  virtue  nor  valor  could  avail  the  unfortunate  Mala- 
gans against  the  overwhelming  force  of  their  enemies,  who, 
driving  them  back  from  every  point,  compelled  them,  after 
a desperate  struggle  of  six  hours,  to  shelter  themselves  within 
the  defences  of  the  town.  The  Christians  followed  up  their 
success.  A mine  was  sprung  near  a tower,  connected  by  a 
bridge  of  four  arches  with  the  main  works  of  the  place.  The 
Moors,  scattered  and  intimidated  by  the  explosion,  retreated 
across  the  bridge,  and  the  Spaniards,  carrying  the  towTer, 
whose  guns  completely  enfiladed  it,  obtained  possession  of 
this  important  pass  into  the  beleaguered  city.  For  these  and 
other  signal  services  during  the  siege,  Francisco  Ramirez, 
the  master  of  the  ordnance,  received  the  honors  of  knight- 
hood from  the  hand  of  King  Ferdinand.23 


CON^UE^T  OF  MALAGA.  299 

The  citizens  of  Malaga,  dismayed  at  beholding  the  enemy 
established  in  their  defences,  and  fainting  under  exhaustion 
from  a siege  which  had  already  lasted  more  than  three 
months,  now  began  to  murmur  at  the  obstinacy  of  the  garri- 
son, and  to  demand  a capitulation.  Their  magazines  of 
grain  were  emptied,  and  for  some  weeks  they  had  been  com- 
pelled to  devour  the  flesh  of  horses,  dogs,  cats,  and  even  the 
boiled  hides  of  these  animals,  or,  in  default  of  other  nutri- 
ment, vine  leaves  dressed  with  oil,  and  leaves  of  the  palm 
tree,  pounded  fine,  and  baked  into  a sort  of  cake.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  loathsome  and  unwholesome  diet,  diseases 
were  engendered.  Multitudes  were  seen  dying  about  the 
streets.  Many  deserted  to  the  Spanish  camp,  eager  to  barter 
their  liberty  for  bread;  and  the  city  exhibited  all  the  extremes 
of  squalid  and  disgusting  wretchedness,  bred  by  pestilence 
and  famine  among  an  overcrowded  population.  The  suffer- 
ings of  the  citizens  softened  the  stern  heart  of  the  alcayde, 
Hamet  Zeli,  who  at  length  yielded  to  their  importunities, 
and,  withdrawing  his  forces  into  the  Gebalfaro,  consented 
that  the  Malagans  should  make  the  best  terms  they  could 
with  their  conqueror. 

A deputation  of  the  principal  inhabitants,  with  an  eminent 
merchant  named  Ali  Dordux  at  their  head,  was  then  de- 
spatched to  the  Christian  quarters,  with  the  offer  of  the  city 
to  capitulate,  on  the  same  liberal  conditions  which  had  been 
uniformly  granted  by  the  Spaniards.  The  king  refused  to 
admit  the  embassy  into  his  presence,  and  haughtily  answered 
through  the  commander  of  Leon,  “that  these  terms  had  been 
twice  offered  to  the  people  of  Malaga,  and  rejected;  that  it 
was  too  late  for  them  to  stipulate  conditions,  and  nothing 
now  remained  but  to  abide  by  those,  which  he,  as  their  con- 
queror, should  vouchsafe  to  them.’’24 

Ferdinand’s  answer  spread  general  consternation  through- 
out Malaga.  The  inhabitants  saw  too  plainly  that  nothing 
was  to  be  hoped  from  an  appeal  to  sentiments  of  humanity. 
After  a tumultuous  debate,  the  deputies  were  despatched  a 
second  time  to  the  Christian  camp,  charged  with  propositions 
in  which  concession  was  mingled  with  menace.  They  repre- 
sented that  the  severe  response  of  King  Ferdinand  to  the 
citizens  had  rendered  them  desperate.  That,  however,  they 
were  willing  to  resign  to  him  their  fortifications,  their  city, 
in  short  their  property  of  every  description,  on  his  assurance 
of  their  personal  security  and  freedom.  If  he  refused  this, 
they  would  take  their  Christian  captives,  amounting  to  five 
or  six  hundred,  from  the  dungeons  in  which  they  lay,  and 


3°° 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


hang  them  like  dogs  over  the  battlements;  and  then,  placing 
their  old  men,  women,  and  children  in  the  fortress,  they 
would  set  fire  to  the  town,  and  cut  a way  for  themselves 
through  their  enemies,  or  fall  in  the  attempt.  “So,”  they 
continued,  “if  you  gain  a victory,  it  shall  be  such  a one  as 
shall  make  the  name  of  Malaga  ring  throughout  the  world, 
and  to  ages  yet  unborn!”  Ferdinand,  unmoved  by  these 
menaces,  coolly  replied,  that  he  saw  no  occasion  to  change 
his  former  determination;  but  they  might  rest  assured,  if 
they  harmed  a single  hair  of  a Christian,  he  would  put  every 
soul  in  the  place,  man,  woman,  and  child,  to  the  sword. 

The  anxious  people,  who  thronged  forth  to  meet  the  em- 
bassy on  its  return  to  the  city,  were  overwhelmed  with  the 
deepest  gloom  at  its  ominous  tidings.  Their  fate  was  now 
sealed.  Every  avenue  to  hope  seemed  closed  by  the  stern 
response  of  the  victor.  Yet  hope  will  still  linger;  and,  although 
there  were  some  frantic  enough  to  urge  the  execution  of 
their  desperate  menaces,  the  greater  number  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  among  them  those  most  considerable  for  wealth 
and  influence,  preferred  the  chance  of  Ferdinand’s  clemency 
to  certain,  irretrievable  ruin. 

For  the  last  time,  therefore,  the  deputies  issued  from  the 
gates  of  the  city,  charged  with  an  epistle  to  the  sovereigns 
from  their  unfortunate  countrymen,  in  which,  after  depreca- 
ting their  anger,  and  lamenting  their  own  blind  obstinacy, 
they  reminded  their  highnesses  of  the  liberal  terms  which 
their  ancestors  had  granted  to  Cordova,  Antequera,  and  other 
cities,  after  a defence  as  pertinacious  as  their  own.  They 
expatiated  on  the  fame  which  the  sovereigns  had  established 
by  the  generous  policy  of  their  past  conquests,  and,  appeal- 
ing to  their  magnanimity,  concluded  with  submitting  them- 
selves, their  families,  and  their  fortunes  to  their  disposal. 
Twenty  of  the  principal  citizens  were  then  delivered  up  as 
hostages  for  the  peaceable  demeanor  of  the  city  until  its 
occupation  by  the  Spaniards.  “Thus,”  says  the  Curate  of 
Los  Palacios,  “did  the  Almighty  harden  the  hearts  of  these 
heathen,  like  to  those  of  the  Egyptians,  in  order  that  they 
might  receive  the  full  wages  of  the  manifold  oppressions 
which  they  had  wrought  on  his  people,  from  the  days  of  King 
Roderic  to  the  present  time!”  25 

On  the  appointed  day,  the  commander  of  Leon  rode 
through  the  gates  of  Malaga,  at  the  head  of  his  well-appointed 
chivalry,  and  took  possession  of  the  alcazaba , or  lower  cita- 
del. The  troops  were  then  posted  on  their  respective  sta- 
tions along  the  fortifications,  and  the  banners  of  Christian 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA. 


3°1 


Spain  triumphantly  unfurled  from  the  towers  of  the  city, 
where  the  crescent  had  been  displayed  for  an  uninterrupted 
period  of  nearly  eight  centuries. 

The  first  act  was  to  purify  the  town  from  the  numerous 
dead  bodies,  and  other  offensive  matter,  which  had  accu- 
mulated during  this  long  siege,  and  lay  festering  in  the 
streets,  poisoning  the  atmosphere.  The  principal  mosque 
was  next  consecrated  with  due  solemnity  to  the  service  of 
Santa  Maria  de  la  Incarnacion.  Crosses  and  bells,  the 
symbols  of  Christian  worship,  were  distributed  in  profusion 
among  the  sacred  edifices;  where,  says  the  Catholic  chronicler 
last  quoted,  “the  celestial  music  of  their  chimes,  sounding 
at  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night,  caused  perpetual  torment 
to  the  ears  of  the  infidel.”20 

On  the  eighteenth  day  of  August,  being  somewhat  more 
than  three  months  from  the  date  of  opening  trenches,  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella  made  their  entrance  into  the  conquered 
city,  attended  by  the  court,  the  clergy,  and  the  whole  of 
their  military  array.  The  procession  moved  in  solemn  state 
up  the  principal  streets,  now  deserted,  and  hushed  in  omi- 
nous silence,  to  the  new  cathedral  of  St.  Mary,  where  mass 
was  performed,  and,  as  the  glorious  anthem  of  the  Te  Deum 
rose  for  the  first  time  within  its  ancient  walls,  the  sovereigns, 
together  with  the  whole  army,  prostrated  themselves  in 
grateful  adoration  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who  had  thus  rein- 
stated them  in  the  domains  of  their  ancestors. 

The  most  affecting  incident  was  afforded  by  the  multitude 
of  Christian  captives,  who  were  rescued  from  the  Moorish 
dungeons.  They  were  brought  before  the  sovereigns,  with 
their  limbs  heavily  manacled,  their  beards  descending  to  their 
waists,  and  their  sallow  visages  emaciated  by  captivity  and 
famine.  Every  eye  was  suffused  with  tears  at  the  spectacle. 
Many  recognized  their  ancient  friends,  of  whose  fate  they 
had  long  been  ignorant.  Some  had  lingered  in  captivity  ten 
or  fifteen  years;  and  among  them'  were  several  belonging  to 
the  best  families  in  Spain.  On  entering  the  presence,  they 
would  have  testified  their  gratitude  by  throwing  themselves 
at  the  feet  of  the  sovereigns;  but  the  latter,  raising  them  up 
and  mingling  their  tears  with  those  of  the  liberated  captives, 
caused  their  fetters  to  be  removed,  and,  after  administering 
to  their  necessities,  dismissed  them  with  liberal  presents.27 

The  fortress  of  Gebalfaro  surrendered  on  the  day  after  the 
occupation  of  Malaga  by  the  Spaniards.  The  gallant  Zegri 
chieftain,  Hamet  Zeli,  was  loaded  with  chains;  and,  being 
asked  why  he  had  persisted  so  obstinately  in  his  rebellion , 


3°2 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


boldly  answered,  “Because  I was  commissioned  to  defend 
the  place  to  the  last  extremity;  and,  if  I had  been  properly 
supported,  I would  have  died  sooner  than  surrender  now!” 

The  doom  of  the  vanquished  was  now  to  be  pronounced. 
On  entering  the  city,  orders  had  been  issued  to  the  Spanish 
soldiery,  prohibiting  them  under  the  severest  penalties  from 
molesting  either  the  persons  or  property  of  the  inhabitants. 
These  latter  were  directed  to  remain  in  their  respective  man 
sions  with  a guard  set  over  them,  while  the  cravings  of  appe- 
tite were  supplied  by  a liberal  distribution  of  food.  At  length, 
the  whole  population  of  the  city,  comprehending  every  age 
and  sex,  was  commanded  to  repair  to  the  great  court-yard 
of  the  alcazaba,  which  was  overlooked  on  all  sides  by  lofty 
ramparts  garrisoned  by  the  Spanish  soldiery.  To  this  place, 
the  scene  of  many  a Moorish  triumph,  where  the  spoil  of  the 
border  foray  had  been  often  displayed,  and  which  still  might 
be  emblazoned  with  the  trophy  of  many  a Christian  banner, 
the  people  of  Malaga  now  directed  their  steps.  As  the  mul- 
titude swarmed  through  the  streets,  filled  with  boding  appre- 
hensions of  their  fate,  they  wrung  their  hands,  and,  raising 
their  eyes  to  Heaven,  uttered  the  most  piteous  lamentations. 
“Oh  Malaga,”  they  cried,  “renowned  and  beautiful  city, 
how  are  thy  sons  about  to  forsake  thee!  Could  not  thy  soil 
on  which  they  first  drew  breath,  be  suffered  to  cover  them 
in  death?  Where  is  now  the  strength  of  thy  towers,  where 
the  beauty  of  thy  edifices?  The  strength  of  thy  walls,  alas, 
could  not  avail  thy  children,  for  they  had  sorely  displeased 
their  Creator.  What  shall  become  of  thy  old  men  and  thy 
matrons,  or  of  thy  young  maidens  delicately  nurtured  within 
thy  halls,  when  they  shall  feel  the  iron  yoke  of  bondage? 
Can  thy  barbarous  conquerors  without  remorse  thus  tear 
asunder  the  dearest  ties  of  life?”  Such  are  the  melancholy 
strains,  in  which  the  Castilian  chronicler  has  given  utterance 
to  the  sorrows  of  the  captive  city.28 

The  dreadful  doom  of  slavery  was  denounced  on  the 
assembled  multitude.  One  third  was  to  be  transported  into 
Africa  in  exchange  for  an  equal  number  of  Christian  captives 
detained  there;  and  all,  who  had  relatives  or  friends  in  this 
predicament,  were  required  to  furnish  a specification  of 
them.  Another  third  was  appropriated  to  reimburse  the  state 
for  the  expenses  of  the  war.  The  remainder  were  to  be  dis- 
tributed as  presents  at  home  and  abroad.  Thus,  one  hun- 
dred of  the  flower  of  the  African  warriors  were  sent  to  the 
pope,  who  incorporated  them  into  his  guard,  and  converted 
them  all  in  the  course  of  the  year,  says  the  Curate  of  Los 


CONQUEST  OF  MALAGA’  303 

Palacios,  into  very  good  Christians.  Fifty  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful Moorish  girls  were  presented  by  Isabella  to  the  queen 
of  Naples,  thirty  to  the  queen  of  Portugal,  others  to  the 
ladies  of  her  court;  and  the  residue  of  both  sexes  were  appor- 
tioned among  the  nobles,  cavaliers,  and  inferior  members  of 
the  army,  according  to  their  respective  rank  and  services.29 

As  it  was  apprehended  that  the  Malagans,  rendered  des- 
perate by  the  prospect  of  a hopeless,  interminable  captivity, 
might  destroy  or  secrete  their  jewels,  plate,  and  other  pre- 
cious effects,  in  which  this  wealthy  city  abounded,  rather  than 
suffer  them  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  Ferdinand 
devised  a politic  expedient  for  preventing  it.  He  proclaimed, 
that  he  would  receive  a certain  sum,  if  paid  within  nine 
months,  as  the  ransom  of  the  whole  population,  and  that  their 
personal  effects  should  be  admitted  in  part  payment.  This 
sum  averaged  about  thirty  doblas  a head,  including  in  the 
estimate  all  those  who  might  die  before  the  determination  ot 
the  period  assigned.  The  ransom,  thus  stipulated,  proved 
more  than  the  unhappy  people  could  raise,  either  by  them- 
selves, or  agents  employed  to  solicit  contributions  among 
their  brethren  of  Granada  and  Africa;  at  the  same  time,  it 
so  far  deluded  their  hopes,  that  they  gave  in  a full  inventory 
of  their  effects  to  the  treasury.  By  this  shrewd  device, 
Ferdinand  obtained  complete  possession  both  of  the  persons 
and  property  of  his  victims. 

Malaga  was  computed  to  contain  from  eleven  to  fifteen 
thousand  inhabitants,  exclusive  of  several  thousand  toreign 
auxiliaries,  within  its  gates  at  the  time  of  surrender.  One 
cannot,  at  this  day,  read  the  melancholy  details  of  its  story, 
without  feelings  of  horror  and  indignation.  It  is  impossible 
to  vindicate  the  dreadful  sentence  passed  on  this  unfortunate 
people  for  a display  of  heroism,  which  should  have  excited 
admiration  in  every  generous  bosom.  It  was  obviously  most 
repugnant  to  Isabella’s  natural  disposition,  and  must  be  ad- 
mitted to  leave  a stain  on  her  memory,  which  no  coloring  of 
history  can  conceal.  It  may  find  some  palliation,  however, 
in  the  bigotry  of  the  age,  the  more  excusable  in  a woman, 
whom  education,  general  example,  and  natural  distrust  of 
herself,  accustomed  to  rely,  in  matters  of  conscience,  on  the 
spiritual  guides,  whose  piety  and  professional  learning  seemed 
to  qualify  them  for  the  trust.  Even  in  this  very  transaction, 
she  fell  far  short  of  the  suggestions  of  some  of  her  counsel- 
lors, who  urged  her  to  put  every  inhabitant  without  exception 
to  the  sword;  which,  they  affirmed,  would  be  a just  requital 
of  their  obstinate  rebellion , and  would  prove  a wholesome 


3°4 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


warning  to  others!  We  are  not  told  who  the  advisers  of  thit 
precious  measure  were;  but  the  whole  experience  of  this 
reign  shows,  that  we  shall  scarcely  wrong  the  clergy  much  by 
imputing  it  to  them.  That  their  arguments  could  warp  s <r 
enlightened  a mind,  as  that  of  Isabella,  from  the  natural  prin- 
ciples of  justice  and  humanity,  furnishes  a remarkable  proof 
of  the  ascendency  which  the  priesthood  usurped  over  the  most 
gifted  intellects,  and  of  their  gross  abuse  of  it,  before  the 
Reformation,  by  breaking  the  seals  set  on  the  sacred  volume, 
opened  to  mankind  the  uncorrupted  channel  of  divine  truth.31 

The  fate  of  Malaga  may  be  said  to  have  decided  that  of 
Granada.  The  latter  was  now  shut  out  from  the  most  im- 
portant ports  along  her  coast;  and  she  was  environed  on 
every  point  of  her  territory  by  her  warlike  foe,  so  that  she 
could  hardly  hope  more  from  subsequent  efforts,  however 
strenuous  and  united,  than  to  postpone  the  inevitable  hour  of 
dissolution.  The  cruel  treatment  of  Malaga  was  the  prelude 
to  the  long  series  of  persecutions,  which  awaited  the  wretched 
Moslems  in  the  land  of  their  ancestors;  in  that  land,  over 
which  the  “star  of  Islamism,”  to  borrow  their  own  metaphor, 
had  shone  in  full  brightness  for  nearly  eight  centuries,  but 
where  it  was  now  fast  descending  amid  clouds  and  tempests 
to  the  horizon. 

The  first  care  of  the  sovereigns  was  directed  toward  re- 
peopling the  depopulated  city  with  their  own  subjects. 
Houses  and  lands  were  freely  granted  to  such  as  would  settle 
there.  Numerous  towns  and  villages  with  a wide  circuit  of 
territory  were  placed  under  its  civil  jurisdiction,  and  it  was 
made  the  head  of  a diocese  embracing  most  of  the  recent 
conquests  in  the  south  and  west  of  Granada.  These  induce- 
ments, combined  with  the  natural  advantages  of  position  and 
climate,  soon  caused  the  tide  of  Christian  population  to  flow 
into  the  deserted  city;  but  it  was  very  long  before  it  again 
reached  the  degree  of  commercial  consequence  to  which  it  had 
been  raised  by  the  Moors. 

After  these  salutary  arrangements,  the  Spanish  sovereigns 
led  back  their  victorious  legions  in  triumph  to  Cordova, 
whence  dispersing  to  their  various  homes  they  prepared,  by 
a winter’s  repose,  for  new  campaigns  and  more  brilliant  con- 
quests. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA.- — CONQUEST  OF  BAZA  — SUBMISSION  OF 
EL  ZAGAL. 

1487 — 1489. 

The  Sovereigns  visit  Aragon. — The  King  lays  Siege  to  Baza. — Its  great 
Strength. — Gardens  cleared  of  their  Timber. — The  Queen  raises  the 
Spirits  of  her  Troops. — Her  patriotic  Sacrifices. — Suspension  of  Arms. 
— Baza  Surrenders. — Treaty  with  Zagal. — Difficulties  of  the  Campaign. 
— Isabella’s  Popularity  and  Influence. 

In  the  autumn  of  1487,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  accompanied 
by  the  younger  branches  of  the  royal  family,  visited  Aragon, 
to  obtain  the  recognition  from  the  cortes,  of  Prince  John’s 
succession,  now  in  his  tenth  year,  as  well  as  to  repress  the 
disorders  into  which  the  country  had  fallen  during  the  long 
absence  of  its  sovereigns.  To  this  end,  the  principal  cities 
and  communities  of  Aragon  had  recently  adopted  the  insti- 
tution of  the  hermandad,  organized  on  similar  principles  to 
that  of  Castile.  Ferdinand,  on  his  arrival  at  Saragossa  in  the 
month  of  November,  gave  his  royal  sanction  to  the  associa- 
tion, extending  the  term  of  its  duration  to  five  years,  a 
measure  extremely  unpalatable  to  the  great  feudal  nobility, 
whose  power,  or  rather  abuse  of  power,  was  considerably 
abridged  by  this  popular  military  force.1 

The  sovereigns,  after  accomplishing  the  objects  of  their 
visit,  and  obtaining  an  appropriation  from  the  cortes  for  the 
Moorish  war,  passed  into  Valencia,  where  measures  of  like 
efficiency  were  adopted  for  restoring  the  authority  of  the  law, 
which  was  exposed  to  such  perpetual  lapses  in  this  turbulent 
age,  even  in  the  best  constituted  governments,  as  required 
for  its  protection  the  utmost  vigilance,  on  the  part  of  those 
intrusted  with  the  supreme  executive  power.  From  Valencia 
the  court  proceeded  to  Murcia,  where  Ferdinand,  in  the 
month  of  June,  1488,  assumed  the  command  of  an  army 
amounting  to  less  than  twenty  thousand  men,  a small  force 
compared  with  those  usually  levied  on  these  occasions;  it 
being  thought  advisable  to  suffer  the  nation  to  breathe  a 


3°j 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


while,  after  the  exhausting  efforts  in  which  it  had  been  unin- 
termittingly  engaged  for  so  many  years. 

Ferdinand,  crossing  the  eastern  borders  of  Granada,  at 
no  great  distance  from  Vera,  which  speedily  opened  its  gates, 
kept  along  the  southern  slant  of  the  coast  as  far  as  Almeria; 
whence,  after  experiencing  some  rough  treatment  from  a 
sortie  of  the  garrison,  he  marched  by  a northerly  circuit  on 
Baza,  for  the  purpose  of  reconnoitring  its  position,  as  his 
numbers  were  altogether  inadequate  to  its  siege.  A division 
of  the  army  under  the  marquis  duke  of  Cadiz  suffered  itself 
to  be  drawn  here  into  an  ambuscade  by  the  wily  old  monarch 
El  Zagal,  who  lay  in  Baza  with  a strong  force.  After  extri- 
cating his  troops  with  some  difficulty  and  loss  from  this  peril- 
ous predicament,  Ferdinand  retreated  on  his  own  dominions 
by  the  way  of  Huescar,  where  he  disbanded  his  army,  and 
withdrew  to  offer  up  his  devotions  at  the  cross  of  Caravaca. 
The  campaign,  though  signalized  by  no  brilliant  achievement, 
and  indeed  clouded  with  some  sight  reverses,  secured  the 
surrender  of  a considerable  number  of  fortresses  and  towns 
of  inferior  note.2 

The  Moorish  chief,  El  Zagal,  elated  by  his  recent  success, 
made  frequent  forays  into  the  Christian  territories,  sweeping 
off  the  flocks,  herds,  and  growing  crops  of  the  husbandmen; 
while  the  garrisons  of  Almeria  and  Salobrena,  and  the  bold 
inhabitants  of  the  valley  of  Purchena,  poured  a similar  devas- 
tating warfare  over  the  eastern  borders  of  Granada  into 
Murcia.  To  meet  this  pressure,  the  Spanish  sovereigns 
reinforced  the  frontier  with  additional  levies  under  Juan  de 
Benavides  and  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega;  while  Christian  knights, 
whose  prowess  is  attested  in  many  a Moorish  lay,  flocked 
there  from  all  quarters,  as  to  the  theatre  of  war. 

During  the  following  winter,  of  1488,  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella occupied  themselves  with  the  interior  government  of 
Castile,  and  particularly  the  administration  of  justice.  A 
commission  was  specially  appointed  to  supervise  the  conduct 
of  the  corregidors  and  subordinate  magistrates,  “so  that  every 
one/’  says  Pulgar,  “was  most  careful  to  discharge  his  duty 
faithfully,  in  order  to  escape  the  penalty,  which  was  other- 
wise sure  to  overtake  him.”  3 

While  at  Valladolid,  the  sovereigns  received  an  embassy 
from  Maximilian,  son  of  the  emperor  Frederic  the  Fourth, 
of  Germany,  soliciting  their  cooperation  in  his  designs 
against  France  for  the  restitution  of  his  late  wife’s  rightful 
inheritance,  the  duchy  of  Burgundy,  and  engaging  in  turn  to 
support  them  in  their  claims  on  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne. 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


307 


The  Spanish  monarchs  had  long  entertained  many  causes  of 
discontent  with  the  French  court,  both  with  regard  to  the 
mortgaged  territory  of  Roussillon,  and  the  kingdom  of  Na- 
varre; and  they  watched  with  jealous  eye  the  daily  increasing 
authority  of  their  formidable  neighbor  on  their  own  frontier. 
They  had  been  induced  in  the  preceding  summer,  to  equip 
an  armament  at  Biscay  and  Guipuscoa,  to  support  the  duke 
of  Brittany  in  his  wars  with  the  French  regent,  the  celebrated 
Anne  de  Beaujeu.  This  expedition,  which  proved  disastrous, 
was  followed  by  another  in  the  spring  of  the  succeeding 
year.4  But,  notwithstanding  these  occasional  episodes  to 
the  great  work  in  which  they  were  engaged,  they  had  little 
leisure  for  extended  operations;  and,  although  they  entered 
into  the  proposed  treaty  of  alliance  with  Maximilian,  they  do 
not  seem  to  have  contemplated  any  movement  of  importance 
before  the  termination  of  the  Moorish  war.  The  Flemish 
ambassadors,  after  being  entertained  for  forty  days  in  a style 
suited  to  impress  them  with  high  ideas  of  the  magnificence 
of  the  Spanish  court,  and  of  its  friendly  disposition  toward 
their  master,  were  dismissed  with  costly  presents,  and  re- 
turned to  their  own  country.6 

These  negotiations  show  the  increasing  intimacy  growing 
up  between  the  European  states,  who,  as  they  settled  their 
domestic  feuds,  had  leisure  to  turn  their  eyes  abroad,  and 
enter  into  the  more  extended  field  of  international  politics. 
The  tenor  of  this  treaty  indicates  also  the  direction,  which 
affairs  were  to  take,  when  the  great  powers  should  be 
brought  into  collision  with  each  other  on  a common  theatre 
of  action. 

All  thoughts  were  now  concentrated  on  the  prosecution  of 
the  war  with  Granada,  which,  it  was  determined,  should  be 
conducted  on  a more  enlarged  scale  than  it  had  yet  been; 
notwithstanding  the  fearful  pest  which  had  desolated  the 
country  during  the  past  year,  and  the  extreme  scarcity  of 
grain,  owing  to  the  inundations  caused  by  excessive  rains  in 
the  fruitful  provinces  of  the  south.  The  great  object  pro- 
posed in  this  campaign  was  the  reduction  of  Baza,  the  capi- 
tal of  that  division  of  the  empire,  which  belonged  to  El  Zagah 
Besides  this  important  city,  that  monarch’s  dominions  em- 
braced the  wealthy  sea-port  of  Almeria,  Guadix,  and  numer- 
ous other  towns  and  villages  of  less  consequence,  together 
with  the  mountain  region  of  the  Alpuxarras,  rich  in  mineral 
wealth;  whose  inhabitants,  famous  for  the  perfection  to  which 
they  had  carried  the  silk  manufacture,  were  equally  known 
for  their  enterprise  and  courage  in  war,  so  that  El  Zagal’s 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


308 

division  comprehended  the  most  potent  and  opulent  portion 
of  the  empire.6 

In  the  spring  of  1489,  the  Castilian  court  passed  to  Jaen, 
at  which  place  the  queen  was  to  establish  her  residence,  as 
presenting  the  most  favorable  point  of  communication  with 
the  invading  army.  Ferdinand  advanced  as  far  as  Sotogor- 
do,  where,  on  the  27th  of  May,  he  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  a numerous  force,  amounting  to  about  fifteen  thousand 
horse  and  eighty  thousand  foot,  including  persons  of  every 
description;  among  whom  was  gathered,  as  usual,  that  chi- 
valrous array  of  nobility  and  knighthood,  who,  with  stately 
and  well-appointed  retinues,  were  accustomed  to  follow  the 
royal  standard  in  these  crusades.7 

The  first  point,  against  which  operations  were  directed,  was 
the  strong  post  of  Cuxar,  two  leagues  only  from  Baza,  which 
surrendered  after  a brief  but  desperate  resistance.  The  oc- 
cupation of  this  place,  and  some  adjacent  fortresses,  left  the 
approaches  open  to  El  Zagal’s  capital.  As  the  Spanish  army 
toiled  up  the  heights  of  the  mountain  barrier,  which  towers 
above  Baza  on  the  west,  their  advance  was  menaced  by  clouds 
of  Moorish  light  troops,  who  poured  down  a tempest  of  mus- 
ket-balls and  arrows  on  their  heads.  These  however  were 
quickly  dispersed  by  the  advancing  vanguard;  and  the  Span- 
iards, as  they  gained  the  summits  of  the  hills,  beheld  the 
lordly  city  of  Baza,  reposing  in  the  shadows  of  the  bold  sierra 
that  stretches  toward  the  coast,  and  lying  in  the  bosom  of  a 
fruitful  valley,  extending  eight  leagues  in  length,  and  three  in 
breadth.  Through  this  valley  flowed  the  waters  of  the  Gua- 
dalentin  and  the  Guadalquiton,  whose  streams  were  conducted 
by  a thousand  canals  over  the  surface  of  the  vega.  In  the 
midst  of  the  plain,  adjoining  the  surburbs,  might  be  descried 
the  orchard  or  garden,  as  it  was  termed,  of  Baza,  a league  in 
length,  covered  with  a thick  growth  of  wood,  and  with  nu- 
merous villas  and  pleasure-houses  of  the  wealthy  citizens, 
now  converted  into  garrisoned  fortresses.  The  suburbs  were 
encompassed  by  a low  mud  wall;  but  the  fortifications  of  the 
city  were  of  uncommon  strength.  The  place,  in  addition 
to  ten  thousand  troops  of  its  own,  was  garrisoned  by  an  equal 
number  from  Almeria;  picked  men,  under  the  command  of 
the  Moorish  prince  Cidi  Yahye,  a relative  of  El  Zagal,  who 
lay  at  this  time  in  Guadix,  prepared  to  cover  his  own  domin- 
ions against  any  hostile  movement  of  his  rival  in  Granada. 
These  veterans  were  commissioned  to  defend  the  place  to  the 
last  extremity;  and,  as  due  time  had  been  given  for  prepara- 
tion, the  town  was  victualled  with  fifteen  months’  provisions, 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


3°  9 


and  even  the  crops  growing  in  the  vega  had  been  garnered 
before  their  prime,  to  save  them  from  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.8 

The  first  operation,  after  the  Christian  army  had  encamped 
before  the  walls  of  Baza,  was  to  get  possession  of  the  garden, 
without  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  enforce  a thorough 
blockade,  since  its  labyrinth  of  avenues  afforded  the  inhabi- 
tants abundant  facilities  of  communication  with  the  surround- 
ing country.  The  assault  was  intrusted  to  the  grand  master 
of  St.  James,  supported  by  the  principal  cavaliers,  and  the 
king  in  person.  Their  reception  by  the  enemy  was  such  as 
gave  them  a foretaste  of  the  perils  and  desperate  daring  they 
were  to  encounter  in  the  present  siege.  The  broken  surface 
of  the  ground,  bewildered  with  intricate  passes,  and  thickly 
studded  with  trees  and  edifices,  was  peculiarly  favorable  to 
the  desultory  and  illusory  tactics  of  the  Moors.  The  Span- 
ish cavalry  was  brought  at  once  to  a stand;  the  ground  prov- 
ing impracticable  for  it,  it  was  dismounted,  and  led  to  the 
charge  by  its  officers  on  foot.  The  men,  however,  were 
soon  scattered  far  asunder  from  their  banners  and  their  lead- 
ers. Ferdinand,  who  from  a central  position  endeavored  to 
overlook  the  field,  with  the  design  of  supporting  the  attack 
on  the  points  most  requiring  it,  soon  lost  sight  of  his  columns 
amid  the  precipitous  ravines,  and  the  dense  masses  of  foliage 
which  everywhere  intercepted  the  view.  The  combat  was 
carried  on,  hand  to  hand,  in  the  utmost  confusion.  Still  the 
Spaniards  pressed  forward,  and,  after  a desperate  struggle 
for  twelve  hours,  in  which  many  of  the  bravest  on  both  sides 
fell,  and  the  Moslem  chief  Reduan  Zafarga  had  four  horses 
successively  killed  under  him,  the  enemy  were  beaten  back 
behind  the  intrenchments  that  covered  the  suburbs,  and  the 
Spaniards,  hastily  constructing  a defence  of  palisades,  pitched 
their  tents  on  the  field  of  battle.9 

The  following  morning  Ferdinand  had  the  mortification  to 
observe,  that  the  ground  was  too  much  broken,  and  obstructed 
with  wood,  to  afford  a suitable  place  for  a general  encamp- 
ment. To  evacuate  his  position,  however,  in  the  face  of  the 
enemy,  was  a delicate  manoeuvre,  and  must  necessarily  ex- 
pose him  to  severe  loss.  This  he  obviated,  in  a great  mea- 
sure, by  a fortunate  stratagem.  He  commanded  the  tents 
nearest  the  town  to  be  left  standing,  and  thus  succeeded  in 
drawing  off  the  greater  part  of  his  forces,  before  the  enemy 
was  aware  of  his  intention. 

After  regaining  his  former  position,  a council  of  war  was 
summoned  to  deliberate  on  the  course  next  to  be  pursued. 


3T0 


WAR  OF  ORANADA. 


The  chiefs  were  filled  with  despondency,  as  they  revolved 
the  difficulties  of  their  situation.  They  almost  despaired  of 
enforcing  the  blockade  of  a place,  whose  peculiar  situation 
gave  it  such  advantages.  Even  could  this  be  effected,  the 
camp  would  be  exposed,  they  argued,  to  the  assaults  of  a 
desperate  garrison  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  populous  city 
of  Guadix,  hardly  twenty  miles  distant,  on  the  other;  while 
the  good  faith  of  Granada  could  scarcely  be  expected  to  out- 
live a single  reverse  of  fortune;  so  that,  instead  of  besieging, 
they  might  be  more  properly  regarded  as  themselves  besieged. 
In  addition  to  these  evils,  the  winter  frequently  set  in  with 
much  rigor  in  this  quarter;  and  the  torrents,  descending 
from  the  mountains,  and  mingling  with  the  waters  of  the 
valley,  might  overwhelm  the  camp  with  an  inundation,  which, 
if  it  did  not  sweep  it  away  at  once,  would  expose  it  to  the 
perils  of  famine  by  cutting  off  all  external  communication. 
Under  these  gloomy  impressions,  many  of  the  council  urged 
Ferdinand  to  break  up  his  position  at  once,  and  postpone 
all  operations  on  Baza,  until  the  reduction  of  the  surrounding 
country  should  make  it  comparatively  easy.  Even  the  mar- 
quis of  Cadiz  gave  in  to  this  opinion;  and  Gutierre  de  Car- 
denas, commander  of  Leon,  a cavalier  deservedly  high  in 
the  confidence  of  the  king,  was  almost  the  only  person  of 
consideration  decidedly  opposed  to  it.  In  this  perplexity, 
Ferdinand,  as  usual  in  similar  exigencies,  resolved  to  take 
counsel  of  the  queen.10 

Isabella  received  her  husband’s  despatches  a few  hours 
after  they  were  written,  by  means  of  the  regular  line  of  posts 
maintained  between  the  camp  and  her  station  at  Jaen.  She 
was  filled  with  chagrin  at  their  import,  from  which  she  plainly 
saw,  that  all  her  mighty  preparations  were  about  to  vanish 
into  air.  Without  assuming  the  responsibility  of  deciding 
the  proposed  question,  however,  she  besought  her  husband 
not  to  distrust  the  providence  of  God,  which  had  conducted 
them  through  so  many  perils  toward  the  consummation  of 
their  wishes.  She  reminded  him,  that  the  Moorish  for- 
tunes were  never  at  so  low  an  ebb  as  at  present,  and  that 
their  own  operations  could  probably  never  be  resumed  on 
such  a formidable  scale  or  under  so  favorable  auspices  as 
now,  when  their  arms  had  not  been  stained  with  a single  im- 
portant reverse.  She  concluded  with  the  assurance,  that,  if 
his  soldiers  would  be  true  to  their  duty,  they  might  rely  on 
her  for  the  faithful  discharge  of  hers  in  furnishing  them  with 
all  the  requisite  supplies. 

The  exhilarating  tone  of  this  letter  had  an  instantaneous 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


311 


effect,  silencing  the  scruples  of  the  most  timid,  and  confirm- 
ing the  confidence  of  the  others.  The  soldiers,  in  particular, 
who  had  received  with  dissatisfaction  some  intimation  of 
what  was  passing  in  the  council,  welcomed  it  with  general 
enthusiasm;  and  every  heart  seemed  now  intent  on  further- 
ing the  wishes  of  their  heroic  queen  by  prosecuting  the  siege 
with  the  utmost  vigor. 

The  army  was  accordingly  distributed  into  two  encamp- 
ments; one  under  the  marquis  duke  of  Cadiz,  supported  by 
the  artillery,  the  other  under  king  Ferdinand  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  city.  Between  the  two,  lay  the  garden  or  orchard 
before  mentioned,  extending  a league  in  length;  so  that,  in 
order  to  connect  the  works  of  the  two  camps,  it  became  ne- 
cessary to  get  possession  of  this  contested  ground,  and  to 
clear  it  of  the  heavy  timber  with  which  it  was  covered. 

This  laborious  operation  was  intrusted  to  the  commander 
of  Leon,  and  the  work  was  covered  by  a detachment  of  seven 
thousand  troops,  posted  in  such  a manner  as  to  check  the 
sallies  of  the  garrison.  Notwithstanding  four  thousand  tala - 
dores , or  pioneers,  were  employed  in  the  task,  the  forest  was 
so  dense,  and  the  sorties  from  the  city  so  annoying,  that  the 
work  of  devastation  did  not  advance  more  than  ten  paces  a 
day,  and  was  not  completed  before  the  expiration  of  seven 
weeks.  When  the  ancient  groves,  so  long  the  ornament  and 
protection  of  the  city,  were  levelled  to  the  ground,  prepara- 
tions were  made  for  connecting  the  two  camps,  by  a deep 
trench,  through  which  the  mountain  waters  were  made  to 
flow;  while  the  borders  were  fortified  with  palisades,  con- 
structed of  the  timber  lately  hewn,  together  with  strong  tow- 
ers of  mud  or  clay,  arranged  at  regular  intervals.  In  this 
manner,  the  investment  of  the  city  was  complete  on  the  side 
of  the  vega.11 

As  means  of  communication  still  remained  open,  however, 
by  the  opposite  sierra,  defences  of  similar  strength,  consist- 
ing of  two  stone  walls  separated  by  a deep  trench,  were  made 
to  run  along  the  rocky  heights  and  ravines  of  the  mountains 
until  they  touched  the  extremities  of  the  fortifications  on  the 
plain;  and  thus  Baza  was  encompassed  by  an  unbroken  line 
of  circumvallation. 

In  the  progress  of  the  laborious  work,  which  occupied  ten 
thousand  men,  under  the  indefatigable  commander  of  Leon, 
for  the  space  of  two  months,  it  would  have  been  easy  for  the 
people  of  Guadix,  or  of  Granada,  by  cooperation  with  the 
sallies  of  the  besieged,  to  place  the  Christian  army  in  great 
peril.  Some  feeble  demonstration  of  such  a movement  was 


312 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


made  at  Guadix,  but  it  was  easily  disconcerted.  Indeed, 
El  Zagal  was  kept  in  check  by  the  fear  of  leaving  his  own 
territory  open  to  his  rival,  should  he  march  against  the  Chris- 
tians. Abdallah,  in  the  mean  while,  lay  inactive  in  Granada, 
incurring  the  odium  and  contempt  of  his  people,  who  stigma- 
tized him  as  a Christian  in  heart,  and  a pensioner  of  the 
Spanish  sovereigns.  Their  discontent  gradually  swelled  into 
a rebellion,  which  was  suppressed  by  him  with  a severity, 
that  at  length  induced  a sullen  acquiescence  in  a rule,  which, 
however  inglorious,  was  at  least  attended  with  temporary 
security.12 

While  the  camp  lay  before  Baza,  a singular  mission  was 
received  from  the  sultan  of  Egypt,  who  had  been  solicited 
by  the  Moors  of  Granada  to  interpose  in  their  behalf  with 
the  Spanish  sovereigns.  Two  Franciscan  friars,  members  of 
a religious  community  in  Palestine,  were  bearers  of  despatches; 
which,  after  remonstrating  with  the  sovereigns  on  their  per- 
secution of  the  Moors,  contrasted  it  with  the  protection  uni- 
formly extended  by  the  sultan  to  the  Christians  in  his  domin- 
ions. The  communication  concluded  with  menacing  a retali- 
ation of  similar  severities  on  these  latter,  unless  the  sovereigns 
desisted  from  their  hostilities  toward  Granada. 

From  the  camp,  the  two  ambassadors  proceeded  to  Jaen, 
where  they  were  received  by  the  queen  with  all  the  deference 
due  to  their  holy  profession,  which  seemed  to  derive  addi- 
tional sanctity  from  the  spot  in  which  it  was  exercised.  The 
menacing  import  of  the  sultan’s  communication,  however, 
had  no  power  to  shake  the  purposes  of  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, who  made  answer,  that  they  had  uniformly  observed 
the  same  policy  in  regard  to  their  Mahometan,  as  to  their 
Christian  subjects;  but  that  they  could  no  longer  submit  to 
see  their  ancient  and  rightful  inheritance  in  the  hands  of 
strangers;  and  that,  if  these  latter  would  consent  to  live 
under  their  rule,  as  true  and  loyal  subjects,  they  should 
experience  the  same  paternal  indulgence  which  had  been 
shown  to  their  brethren.  With  this  answer  the  reverend 
emissaries  returned  to  the  Holy  Land,  accompanied  by  sub- 
* stantial  marks  of  the  royal  favor,  in  a yearly  pension  of  one 
thousand  ducats,  which  the  queen  settled  in  perpetuity  on 
their  monastery,  together  with  a richly  embroidered  veil,  the 
work  of  her  own  fair  hands,  to  be  suspended  over  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  The  sovereigns  subsequently  despatched  the 
learned  Peter  Martyr  as  their  envoy  to  the  Moslem  court,  in 
order  to  explain  their  proceedings  more  at  length,  and  avert 
any  disastrous  consequences  from  the  Christian  residents.13 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


313 


In  the  mean  while,  the  siege  went  forward  with  spirit; 
skirmishes  and  single  rencontres  taking  place  every  day  be- 
tween the  high-mettled  cavaliers  on  both  sides.  These 
chivalrous  combats,  however,  were  discouraged  by  FerdF 
nand,  who  would  have  confined  his  operations  to  strict 
blockade,  and  avoided  the  unnecessary  effusion  of  blood; 
especially  as  the  advantage  was  most  commonly  on  the  side 
of  the  enemy,  from  the  peculiar  adaptation  of  their  tactics 
to  this  desultory  warfare.  Although  some  months  had 
elapsed,  the  besieged  rejected  with  scorn  every  summons  to 
surrender;  relying  on  their  own  resources,  and  still  more  on 
the  tempestuous  season  of  autumn,  now  fast  advancing, 
which,  if  it  did  not  break  up  the  encampment  at  once,  would 
at  least,  by  demolishing  the  roads,  cut  off  all  external  com- 
munication. 

In  order  to  guard  against  these  impending  evils,  Ferdinand 
caused  more  than  a thousand  houses,  or  rather  huts,  to  be 
erected,  with  walls  of  earth  or  clay,  and  roofs  made  of  tim- 
ber and  tiles;  while  the  common  soldiers  constructed  cabins 
by  means  of  palisades  loosely  thatched  with  the  branches  of 
trees.  The  whole  work  was  accomplished  in  four  days;  and 
the  inhabitants  of  Baza  beheld  with  amazement  a city  of  solid 
edifices,  with  all  its  streets  and  squares  in  regular  order, 
springing  as  it  were  by  magic  out  of  the  ground,  which  had 
before  been  covered  with  the  light  and  airy  pavilions  of  the 
camp.  The  new  city  was  well  supplied,  owing  to  the  provi- 
dence of  the  queen,  not  merely  with  the  necessaries,  but  the 
luxuries  of  life.  Traders  flocked  there  as  to  a fair,  from 
Aragon,  Valencia,  Catalonia,  and  even  Sicily,  freighted  with 
costly  merchandise,  and  with  jewelry  and  other  articles  of 
luxury;  such  as,  in  the  indignant  lament  of  an  old  chronicler, 
“too  often  corrupt  the  souls  of  the  soldiery,  and  bring  waste 
and  dissipation  into  a camp.” 

That  this  was  not  the  result,  however,  in  the  present  in- 
stance, is  attested  by  more  than  one  historian.  Among  others, 
Peter  Martyr,  the  Italian  scholar  before  mentioned,  who 
was  present  at  this  siege,  dwells  with  astonishment  on  the 
severe  decorum  and  military  discipline,  which  everywhere 
obtained  among  this  motley  congregation  of  soldiers.  “Who 
would  have  believed,”  says  he,  “that  the  Galician,  the  fierce 
Asturian,  and  the  rude  inhabitant  of  the  Pyrenees,  men 
accustomed  to  deeds  of  atrocious  violence,  and  to  brawl  and 
battle  on  the  lightest  occasions  at  home,  should  mingle  amica- 
bly, not  only  with  one  another,  but  with  the  Toledans,  La- 
Manchans,  and  the  wily  and  jealous  Andalusian;  all  living 

VOL.  I. — Id. 


3i4 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


together  in  harmonious  subordination  to  authority,  like 
members  of  one  family,  speaking  one  tongue,  and  nurtured 
under  a common  discipline;  so  that  the  camp  seemed  like  a 
community  modelled  on  the  principles  of  Plato’s  republic!” 
In  another  part  of  this  letter,  which  was  addressed  to  a Mila- 
nese prelate,  he  panegyrizes  the  camp  hospital  of  the  queen, 
then  a novelty  in  war;  which,  he  says,  “is  so  profusely  sup- 
plied with  medical  attendants,  apparatus,  and  whatever  may 
contribute  to  the  restoration  or  solace  of  the  sick,  that  it  is 
scarcely  surpassed  in  these  respects  by  the  magnificent  estab- 
lishments of  Milan.”  14 

During  the  five  months  which  the  siege  had  now  lasted, 
the  weather  had  proved  uncommonly  propitious  to  the  Span- 
iards, being  for  the  most  part  of  a bland  and  equal  tempera- 
ture, while  the  sultry  heats  of  midsummer  were  mitigated  by 
cool  and  moderate  showers.  As  the  autumnal  season  ad- 
vanced, however,  the  clouds  began  to  settle  heavily  around 
the  mountains;  and  at  length  one  of  those  storms,  predicted 
by  the  people  of  Baza,  burst  forth  with  incredible  fury, 
pouring  a volume  of  waters  down  the  rocky  sides  of  the  sierra, 
which,  mingling  with  those  of  the  vega,  inundated  the  camp 
of  the  besiegers,  and  swept  away  most  of  the  frail  edifices 
constructed  for  the  use  of  the  common  soldiery.  A still 
greater  calamity  befell  them  in  the  dilapidation  of  the  roads, 
which,  broken  up  or  worn  into  deep  gullies  by  the  force  of  the 
waters,  were  rendered  perfectly  impassable.  All  communica- 
tion was  of  course  suspended  with  Jaen,  and  a temporary  inter- 
ruption of  the  convoys  filled  the  camp  with  consternation. 
This  disaster,  however,  was  speedily  repaired  by  the  queen, 
who,  with  an  energy  always  equal  to  the  occasion,  caused  six 
thousand  pioneers  to  be  at  once  employed  in  reconstructing 
the  roads;  the  rivers  were  bridged  over,  causeways  new  laid, 
and  two  separate  passes  opened  through  the  mountains,  by 
which  the  convoys  might  visit  the  camp,  and  return  without  in- 
terrupting each  other.  At  the  same  time,  the  queen  bought 
up  immense  quantities  of  grain  from  all  parts  of  Andalusia, 
which  she  caused  to  be  ground  in  her  own  mills;  and  when 
the  roads,  which  extended  more  than  seven  leagues  in  length, 
were  completed,  fourteen  thousand  mules  might  be  seen  daily 
traversing  the  sierra,  laden  with  supplies,  which  from  that 
time  forward  were  poured  abundantly,  and  with  the  most 
perfect  regularity,  into  the  camp.15 

Isabella’s  next  care  was  to  assemble  new  levies  of  troops, 
to  relieve  or  reinforce  those  now  in  the  camp;  and  the  alac- 
rity with  which  all  orders  of  men  from  every  quarter  of  the 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


315 


kingdom  answered  her  summons  is  worthy  of  remark.  But 
her  chief  solicitude  was  to  devise  expedients  for  meeting  the 
enormous  expenditures  incurred  by  the  protracted  operations 
of  the  year.  For  this  purpose,  she  had  recourse  to  loans 
from  individuals  and  religious  corporations,  which  were  ob- 
tained without  much  difficulty,  from  the  general  confidence  in 
her  good  faith.  As  the  sum  thus  raised,  although  exceed- 
ingly large  for  that  period,  proved  inadequate  to  the  expenses, 
further  supplies  were  obtained  from  wealthy  individuals, 
whose  loans  were  secured  by  mortgage  of  the  royal  demesne; 
and,  as  a deficiency  still  remained  in  the  treasury,  the  queen 
as  a last  resource,  pawned  the  crown  jewels  and  her  own 
personal  ornaments  to  the  merchants  of  Barcelona  and  Va- 
lencia, for  such  sums  as  they  were  willing  to  advance  on 
them.16  Such  were  the  efforts  made  by  this  high-spirited 
woman,  for  the  furtherance  of  her  patriotic  enterprise.  The 
extraordinary  results,  which  she  was  enabled  to  effect,  are 
less  to  be  ascribed  to  the  authority  of  her  station,  than  to  that 
perfect  confidence  in  her  wisdom  and  virtue,  with  which  she 
had  inspired  the  whole  nation,  and  which  secured  their 
earnest  cooperation  in  all  her  undertakings.  The  empire, 
which  she  thus  exercised,  indeed,  was  far  more  extended 
than  any  station  however  exalted,  or  any  authority  however 
despotic,  can  confer;  for  it  was  over  the  hearts  of  her  people. 

Notwithstanding  the  vigor  with  which  the  siege  was  pressed, 
Baza  made  no  demonstration  of  submission.  The  garrison 
was  indeed  greatly  reduced  in  number;  the  ammunition  was 
nearly  expended;  yet  there  still  remained  abundant  supplies 
of  provisions  in  the  town,  and  no  signs  of  despondency  ap- 
peared among  the  people.  Even  the  women  of  the  place, 
with  a spirit  emulating  that  of  the  dames  of  ancient  Carthage, 
freely  gave  up  their  jewels,  bracelets,  necklaces,  and  other 
personal  ornaments,  of  which  the  Moorish  ladies  were  exceed- 
ingly fond,  in  order  to  defray  the  charges  of  the  mercenaries. 

The  camp  of  the  besiegers,  in  the  meanwhile,  was  also  great- 
ly wasted  both  by  sickness  and  the  sword.  Many,  desponding 
under  perils  and  fatigues,  which  seemed  to  have  no  end, 
would  even  at  this  late  hour  have  abandoned  the  siege;  and 
they  earnestly  solicited  the  queen’s  appearance  in  the  camp, 
in  the  hope  that  she  would  herself  countenance  this  measure, 
on  witnessing  their  sufferings.  Others,  and  by  far  the  larger 
part,  anxiously  desired  the  queen’s  visit,  as  likely  to  quicken 
the  operations  of  the  siege,  and  bring  it  to  a favorable  issue. 
There  seemed  to  be  a virtue  in  her  presence,  which,  on  some 
account  or  other,  made  it  earnestly  desired  by  all. 


316 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


Isabella  yielded  to  the  general  wish,  and  on  the  7th  of 
November  arrived  before  the  camp,  attended  by  the  infanta 
Isabella,  the  cardinal  of  Spain,  her  friend  the  marchioness 
of  Moya,  and  other  ladies  of  the  royal  household.  The  in- 
habitants of  Baza,  says  Bernaldez,  lined  the  battlements  and 
housetops,  to  gaze  at  the  glittering  cavalcade  as  it  emerged 
from  the  depths  of  the  mountains,  amidst  flaunting  banners 
and  strains  of  martial  music,  while  the  Spanish  cavaliers 
thronged  forth  in  a body  from  the  camp  to  receive  their  be- 
loved mistress,  and  gave  her  the  most  animated  welcome. 
“She  came,”  says  Martyr,  “surrounded  by  a choir  of 
nymphs,  as  if  to  celebrate  the  nuptials  of  her  child;  and  her 
presence  seemed  at  once  to  gladden  and  reanimate  our  spirits, 
drooping  under  long  vigils,  dangers,  and  fatigue.”  Another 
writer,  also  present,  remarks,  that,  from  the  moment  of  her 
appearance,  a change  seemed  to  come  over  the  scene.  No 
more  of  the  cruel  skirmishes,  which  had  before  occurred 
every  day;  no  report  of  artillery,  or  clashing  of  arms,  or  any 
of  the  rude  sounds  of  war,  was  to  be  heard,  but  all  seemed 
disposed  to  reconciliation  and  peace.17 

The  Moors  probably  interpreted  Isabella’s  visit  into  an 
assurance,  that  the  Christian  army  would  never  rise  from 
before  the  place  until  its  surrender.  Whatever  hopes  they 
had  once  entertained  of  wearying  out  the  besiegers,  were 
therefore  now  dispelled.  Accordingly,  a few  days  after  the 
queen’s  arrival,  we  find  them  proposing  a parley  for  arranging 
terms  of  capitulation. 

On  the  third  day  after  her  arrival,  Isabella  reviewed  her 
army,  stretched  out  in  order  of  battle  along  the  slope  of  the 
western  hills;  after  which,  she  proceeded  to  reconnoitre  the 
beleaguered  city,  accompanied  by  the  king  and  the  cardinal 
of  Spain,  together  with  a brilliant  escort  of  the  Spanish  chi- 
valry. On  the  same  day,  a conference  was  opened  with  the 
enemy  through  the  comendador  of  Leon;  and  an  armistice 
arranged,  to  continue  until  the  old  monarch,  El  Zagal,  who 
then  lay  at  Guadix,  could  be  informed  of  the  real  condition 
of  the  besieged,  and  his  instructions  be  received,  determining 
the  course  to  be  adopted. 

The  alcayde  of  Baza  represented  to  his  master  the  low  state 
to  which  the  garrison  was  reduced  by  the  loss  of  lives  and 
the  failure  of  ammunition.  Still,  he  expressed  such  confi- 
dence in  the  spirit  of  his  people,  that  he  undertook  to  make 
good  his  defence  some  time  longer,  provided  any  reasonable 
expectation  of  succor  could  be  afforded;  otherwise,  it  would 
be  a mere  waste  of  life,  and  must  deprive  him  of  such  van- 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


317 


tage  ground  as  he  now  possessed,  for  enforcing  an  honorable 
capitulation.  The  Moslem  prince  acquiesced  in  the  reason- 
ableness of  these  representations.  He  paid  a just  tribute 
to  his  brave  kinsman  Cidi  Yahye’s  loyalty,  and  the  gallantry 
of  his  defence;  but,  confessing  at  the  same  time  his  own  ina- 
bility to  relieve  him,  authorized  him  to  negotiate  the  best 
terms  of  surrender  which  he  could,  for  himself  and  garrison.18 

A mutual  desire  of  terminating  the  protracted  hostilities 
infused  a spirit  of  moderation  into  both  parties,  which  greatly 
facilitated  the  adjustment  of  the  articles.  Ferdinand  showed 
none  of  the  arrogant  bearing,  which  marked  his  conduct 
toward  the  unfortunate  people  of  Malaga,  whether  from  a 
conviction  of  its  impolicy,  or,  as  is  more  probable,  because 
the  city  of  Baza  was  itself  in  a condition  to  assume  a more 
imposing  attitude.  The  principal  stipulations  of  the  treaty 
were,  that  the  foreign  mercenaries  employed  in  the  defence 
of  the  place  should  be  allowed  to  march  out  with  the  honors 
of  war;  that  the  city  should  be  delivered  up  to  the  Christians; 
but  that  the  natives  might  have  the  choice  of  retiring  with 
their  personal  effects  where  they  listed;  or  of  occupying  the 
suburbs,  as  subjects  of  the  Castilian  crown,  liable  only  to  the 
same  tribute  which  they  paid  to  their  Moslem  rulers,  and 
secured  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  property,  religion,  laws,  and 
usages.19 

O11  the  fourth  day  of  December,  1489,  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella took  possession  of  Baza,  at  the  head  of  their  legions, 
amid  the  ringing  of  bells,  the  peals  of  artillery,  and  all  the 
other  usual  accompaniments  of  this  triumphant  ceremony; 
while  the  standard  of  the  Cross,  floating  from  the  ancient 
battlements  of  the  city,  proclaimed  the  triumph  of  the  Chris- 
tian arms.  The  brave  alcayde,  Cidi  Yahye,  experienced  a re- 
ception from  the  sovereigns  very  different  from  that  of  the 
bold  defender  of  Malaga.  He  was  loaded  with  civilities  and 
presents;  and  these  acts  of  courtesy  so  won  upon  his  heart, 
that  he  expressed  a willingness  to  enter  into  their  service. 
“Isabella’s  compliments,”  says  the  Arabian  historian,  drily, 
“were  repaid  in  more  substantial  coin.” 

Cidi  Yahye  was  soon  prevailed  on  to  visit  his  royal  kins- 
man El  Zagal,  at  Guadix,  for  the  purpose  of  urging  his  sub- 
mission to  the  Christian  sovereigns.  In  his  interview  with 
that  prince,  he  represented  the  fruitlessness  of  any  attempt 
to  withstand  the  accumulated  forces  of  the  Spanish  monar- 
chies; that  he  would  only  see  town  after  town  pared  away  from 
his  territory,  until  no  ground  was  left  for  him  to  stand  on, 
and  make  terms  with  the  victor.  He  reminded  him,  that  the 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


318 

baleful  horoscope  of  Abdallah  had  predicted  the  downfall  of 
Granada,  and  that  experience  had  abundantly  shown  how 
vain  it  was  to  struggle  against  the  tide  of  destiny.  The 
unfortunate  monarch  listened,  says  the  Arabian  annalist, 
without  so  much  as  moving  an  eyelid;  and,  after  a long 
and  deep  meditation,  replied  with  the  resignation  characteris- 
tic of  the  Moslems,  “What  Allah  wills,  he  brings  to  pass  in 
his  own  way.  Had  he  not  decreed  the  fall  of  Granada,  this 
good  sword  might  have  saved  it;  but  his  will  be  done!”  It 
was  then  arranged,  that  the  principal  cities  of  Almeria,  Gua- 
dix,  and  their  dependencies,  constituting  the  domain  of  El 
Zagal,  should  be  formally  surrendered  by  that  prince  to  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  who  should  instantly  proceed  at  the 
head  of  their  army  to  take  possession  of  them.20 

On  the  seventh  day  of  December,  therefore,  the  Spanish 
sovereigns,  without  allowing  themselves  or  their  jaded  troops 
any  time  for  repose,  marched  out  of  the  gates  of  Baza,  king 
Ferdinand  occupying  the  centre,  and  the  queen  the  rear  of 
the  army.  Their  route  lay  across  the  most  savage  district  of 
the  long  sierra,  which  stretches  toward  Almeria;  leading 
through  many  a narrow  pass,  which  a handful  of  resolute 
Moors,  says  an  eye-witness,  might  have  made  good  against 
the  whole  Christian  army,  over  mountains  whose  peaks  were 
lost  in  clouds,  and  valleys  whose  depths  were  never  warmed 
by  a sun.  The  winds  were  exceedingly  bleak,  and  the 
weather  inclement;  so  that  men,  as  well  as  horses,  exhausted 
by  the  fatigues  of  previous  service,  were  benumbed  by  the 
intense  cold,  and  many  of  them  frozen  to  death.  Many  more, 
losing  their  way  in  the  intricacies  of  the  sierra,  would  have 
experienced  the  same  miserable  fate,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
marquis  of  Cadiz,  whose  tent  was  pitched  on  one  of  the  lof- 
tiest hills,  and  who  caused  beacon  fires  to  be  lighted  around 
it,  in  order  to  gride  the  stragglers  back  to  their  quarters. 

At  no  great  distance  from  Almeria,  Ferdinand  was  met, 
conformably  to  the  previous  arrangement,  by  El  Zagal,  es- 
corted by  a numerous  body  of  Moslem  cavaliers.  Ferdinand 
commanded  his  nobles  to  ride  forward  and  receive  the  Moor- 
ish prince.  “His  appearance,”  says  Martyr,  who  was  in  the 
royal  retinue,  “touched  my  soul  with  compassion;  for,  al- 
though a lawless  barbarian,  he  was  a king,  and  had  given 
signal  proofs  of  heroism.”  El  Zagal,  without  waiting  to  re- 
ceive the  courtesies  of  the  Spanish  nobles,  threw  himself  from 
his  horse,  and  advanced  toward  Ferdinand  with  the  design  of 
kissing  his  hand;  but  the  latter,  rebuking  his  followers  for 
their  “rusticity,”  in  allowing  such  an  act  of  humiliation  iu 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA.  319 

the  unfortunate  monarch,  prevailed  on  him  to  remount,  and 
then  rode  by  his  side  toward  Almeria.91 

This  city  was  one  of  the  most  precious  jewels  in  the  diadem 
of  Granada.  It  had  amassed  great  wealth  by  its  extensive 
commerce  with  Syria,  Egypt,  and  Africa;  and  its  corsairs  had 
for  ages  been  the  terror  of  the  Catalan  and  Pisan  marine. 
It  might  have  stood  a siege  as  long  as  that  of  Baza,  but  it 
was  now  surrendered  without  a blow,  on  conditions  similar  to 
those  granted  to  the  former  city.  After  allowing  some  days 
for  the  refreshment  of  their  wearied  forces  in  this  pleasant 
region,  which,  sheltered  from  the  bleak  winds  of  the  north 
by  the  sierra  they  had  lately  traversed,  and  fanned  by  the 
gentle  breezes  of  the  Mediterranean,  is  compared  by  Martyr 
to  the  gardens  of  the  Hesperides,  the  sovereigns  established 
a strong  garrison  there,  under  the  commander  of  Leon,  and 
then,  striking  again  into  the  recesses  of  the  mountains, 
marched  on  Guadix,  which,  after  some  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  populace,  threw  open  its  gates  to  them.  The  surren- 
der of  these  principal  cities  was  followed  by  that  of  all  the 
subordinate  dependencies  belonging  to  El  Zagal’s  territory, 
comprehending  a multitude  of  hamlets  scattered  along  the 
green  sides  of  the  mountain  chain  that  stretched  from  Gra- 
nada to  the  coast.  To  all  these  places  the  same  liberal  terms, 
in  regard  to  personal  rights  and  property,  were  secured,  as 
to  Baza. 

As  an  equivalent  for  these  broad  domains,  the  Moorish 
chief  was  placed  in  possession  of  the  taha , or  district,  of 
Andaraz,  the  vale  of  Alhaurin,  and  half  the  salt-pits  of  Ma- 
leha,  together  with  a considerable  revenue  in  money.  He  was, 
moreover,  to  receive  the  title  of  King  of  Andaraz,  and  to 
render  homage  for  his  estates  to  the  crown  of  Castile. 

This  shadow  of  royalty  could  not  long  amuse  the  mind  of 
the  unfortunate  prince.  He  pined  away  amid  the  scenes  of 
his  ancient  empire;  and,  after  experiencing  some  insubor- 
dination on  the  part  of  his  new  vassals,  he  determined  to  re- 
linguish  his  petty  principality,  and  withdraw  forever  from  his 
native  land.  Having  received  a large  sum  of  money,  as  an 
indemnification  for  the  entire  cession  of  his  territorial  rights 
and  possessions  to  the  Castilian  crown,  he  passed  over  to 
Africa,  where,  it  is  reported,  he  was  plundered  of  his  property 
by  the  barbarians,  and  condemned  to  starve  out  the  remain- 
der of  his  days  in  miserable  indigence.22 

The  suspicious  circumstances  attending  this  prince’s  acces- 
sion to  the  throne,  throw  a dark  cloud  over  his  fame,  which 
would  otherwise  seem,  at  least  as  far  as  his  public  life  is  con- 


32° 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


cerned,  to  be  unstained  by  any  opprobrious  act.  He  pos- 
sessed such  energy,  talent,  and  military  science,  as,  had  he 
been  fortunate  enough  to  unite  the  Moorish  nation  under  him 
by  an  undisputed  title,  might  have  postponed  the  fall  of 
Granada  for  many  years.  As  it  was,  these  very  talents,  by 
dividing  the  state  in  his  favor,  served  only  to  precipitate  its 
ruin. 

The  Spanish  sovereigns,  having  accomplished  the  object 
of  the  campaign,  after  stationing  part  of  their  forces  on  such 
points  as  would  secure  the  permanence  of  their  conquests, 
returned  with  the  remainder  to  Jaen,  where  they  disbanded 
the  army  on  the  4th  of  January,  1490.  The  losses  sustained 
by  the  troops,  during  the  whole  period  of  their  prolonged 
service,  greatly  exceeded  those  of  any  former  year,  amount- 
ing to  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  men,  by  far  the  larger 
portion  of  whom  are  said  to  have  fallen  victims  to  diseases 
incident  to  severe  and  long-continued  hardships  and  expo- 
sure.23 

Thus  terminated  the  eighth  year  of  the  war  of  Granada;  a 
year  more  glorious  to  the  Christian  arms,  and  more  important 
in  its  results,  than  any  of  the  preceding.  During  this  period, 
an  army  of  eighty  thousand  men  had  kept  the  field,  amid  all 
the  inclemencies  of  winter,  for  more  than  seven  months;  an 
effort  scarcely  paralleled  in  these  times,  when  both  the  amount 
of  levies,  and  period  of  service,  were  on  the  limited  scale 
adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  feudal  warfare.42  Supplies  for 
this  immense  host,  notwithstanding  the  severe  famine  of  the 
preceding  year,  were  punctually  furnished,  in  spite  of  every 
embarrassment  presented  by  the  want  of  navigable  rivers,  and 
the  interposition  of  a precipitous  and  pathless  sierra. 

The  history  of  this  campaign  is,  indeed,  most  honorable  to 
the  courage,  constancy,  ana  thorough  discipline  of  the  Span- 
ish soldier,  and  to  the  patriotism  and  general  resources  of 
the  nation;  but  most  of  all  to  Isabella.  She  it  was,  who  for- 
tified the  timid  councils  of  the  leaders,  after  the  disasters  of 
the  garden,  and  encouraged  them  to  persevere  in  the  siege. 
She  procured  all  the  supplies,  constructed  the  roads,  took 
charge  of  the  sick,  and  furnished,  at  no  little  personal  sacri- 
fice, the  immense  sums  demanded  for  carrying  on  the  war; 
and,  when  at  last  the  hearts  of  the  soldiers  were  fainting 
under  long-protracted  sufferings,  she  appeared  among  them, 
like  some  celestial  visitant,  to  cheer  their  faltering  spirits, 
and  inspire  them  with  her  own  energy.  The  attachment  to 
Isabella  seemed  to  be  a pervading  principle,  which  animated 
the  whole  nation  by  one  common  impulse,  impressing  a unity 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


321 


of  design  on  all  its  movements.  This  attachment  was  impu- 
table to  her  sex  as  well  as  character.  The  sympathy  and 
tender  care,  with  which  she  regarded  her  people,  naturally 
taised  a reciprocal  sentiment  in  their  bosoms.  But,  when 
they  beheld  her  directing  their  counsels,  sharing  their  fatigues 
and  dangers,  and  displaying  all  the  comprehensive  intellec- 
tual powers  of  the  other  sex,  they  looked  up  to  her  as  to  some 
superior  being,  with  feelings  far  more  exalted  than  those  of 
mere  loyalty.  The  chivalrous  heart  of  the  Spaniard  did 
homage  to  her,  as  to  his  tutelar  saint;  and  she  held  a control 
over  her  people,  such  as  no  man  could  have  acquired  in  any 
age, — and  probably  no  woman,  in  an  age  and  country  less 
romantic. 


Pietro  Martire,  or,  as  he  is  called  in  English,  Peter  Martyr,  so  often 
qouted  in  the  present  chapter,  and  who  will  constitute  one  of  our  best  au- 
thorities during  the  remainder  of  the  history,  was  a native  of  Arona  (not  of 
Anghiera,  as  commonly  supposed),  a place  situated  on  the  borders  of  Lake 
Maggiore,  in  Italy.  (Mazzuchelli,  Scrittori  d’ Italia  (Brescia,  1753-63), 
tom.  ii.  voce  Anghiera.)  He  was  of  noble  Milanese  extraction.  In  1477, 
at  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  was  sent  to  complete  his  education  at  Rome, 
where  he  continued  ten  years,  and  formed  an  intimacy  with  the  most  dis- 
tinguished literary  characters  of  that  cultivated  capital.  In  1487,  he  was 
persuaded  by  the  Castilian  ambassador,  the  count  of  Tendilla,  to  accom- 
pany him  to  Spain,  where  he  was  received  with  marked  distinction  by  the 
queen,  who  would  have  at  once  engaged  him  in  the  tuition  of  the  young 
nobility  of  the  court,  but,  Martyr  having  expressed  a preference  of  a mili- 
tary life,  she,  with  her  usual  delicacy,  declined  to  press  him  on  the  point. 
He  was  present,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the  siege  of  Baza,  and  continued  with 
the  army  during  the  subsequent  campaigns  of  the  Moorish  war.  Many 
passages  of  his  correspondence,  at  this  period,  show  a whimsical  mixture 
of  self-complacency  with  a consciousness  of  the  ludicrous  figure  which  he 
made  in  “ exchanging  the  Muses  for  Mars.” 

At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  entered  the  ecclesiastical  profession,  for  which 
he  had  been  originally  destined,  and  was  persuaded  to  resume  his  literary 
vocation.  He  opened  his  school  at  Valladolid,  Saragossa,  Barcelona,  Al- 
cala de  Henares,  and  other  places;  and  it  was  thronged  with  the  principal 
young  nobility  from  all  parts  of  Spain,  who,  as  he  boasts  in  one  of  his  let- 
ters, drew  their  literary  nourishment  from  him.  “ Suxerunt  mea  literalia 
ubera  Castellse  principes  fere  omnes.”  His  important  services  were  fully 
estimated  by  the  queen,  and,  after  her  death,  by  Ferdinand  and  Charles  V., 
and  he  was  recompensed  with  high  ecclesiastical  preferment  as  well  as 
civil  dignities.  He  died  about  the  year  1525,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  and 
his  remains  were  interred  beneath  a monument  in  the  cathedral  church  of 
Granada,  of  which  he  was  prior. 

Among  Martyr’s  principal  works  is  a treatise  “De  Legatione  Babylo- 
nica,”  being  an  account  of  a visit  to  the  sultan  of  Egypt,  in  1501,  for  the 
purpose  of  deprecating  the  retaliation  with  which  he  had  menaced  the  Chris- 
tian residents  in  Palestine,  for  the  injuries  inflicted  on  the  Spanish  M os- 
14* 


322 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


lems.  Peter  Martyr  conducted  his  negotiation  with  such  address,  that  he 
not  only  appeased  the  sultan’s  resentment,  but  obtained  several  important 
immunities  for  his  Christian  subjects,  in  addition  to  those  previously  en- 
joyed by  them. 

He  also  wrote  an  account  of  the  discoveries  of  the  new  world,  entitled 
“De  Rebus  Oceanicis  et  Novo  Orbe”  (Colonize,  1574),  a book  largely 
consulted  and  commended  by  subsequent  historians.  But  the  work  of 
principal  value  in  our  researches  is  his  “ Opus  Epistolarum,”  being  a col- 
lection of  his  multifarious  correspondence  with  the  most  considerable  per- 
sons of  his  time,  whether  in  political  or  literary  life.  The  letters  are  in 
Latin,  and  extend  from  the  year  1488  to  the  time  of  his  death.  Although 
not  conspicuous  for  elegance  of  diction,  they  are  most  valuable  to  the  his- 
torian, from  the  fidelity  and  general  accuracy  of  the  details,  as  well  as  for 
the  intelligent  criticism  in  which  they  abound,  for  all  which,  uncommon 
facilities  were  afforded  by  the  writer’s  intimacy  with  the  leading  actors, 
and  the  most  recondite  sources  of  information  of  the  period. 

This  high  character  is  fully  authorized  by  the  judgment  of  those  best 
qualified  to  pronounce  on  their  merits, — Martyr’s  own  contemporaries. 
Among  these,  Dr.  Galindez  de  Carbajal,  a counsellor  of  King  Ferdinand 
and  constantly  employed  in  the  highest  concerns  of  state,  commends  these 
epistles  as  “ the  work  of  a learned  and  upright  man,  well  calculated  to 
throw  light  on  the  transactions  of  the  period.  (Anales,  MS.,  prologo.) 
Alvaro  Gomez,  another  contemporary  who  survived  Martyr,  in  the  Life  of 
Ximenes,  which  he  was  selected  to  write  by  the  University  of  Alcala,  de- 
clares, that  “ Martyr’s  Letters  abundantly  compensate  by  their  fidelity  for 
the  unpolished  style  in  which  they  are  written.”  (De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  6.) 
And  John  de  Vergara,  a name  of  the  highest  elebrity  in  the  literary  annals 
of  the  period,  expresses  himself  in  the  following  emphatic  terms.  “I  know 
no  record  of  the  time  more  accurate  and  valuable.  I myself  have  often  wit- 
nessed the  promptness  with  which  he  put  down  things  the  moment  they  oc- 
curred. I have  sometimes  seen  him  write  one  or  two  letters,  while  they  were 
setting  the  table.  For,  as  he  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  style  and  mere 
finish  of  expression,  his  composition  required  but  little  time,  and  expe- 
rienced no  interruption  from  his  ordinary  avocations.”  (See  his  letter  to 
Florian  de  Ocampo,  apud  Quintanilla  y Mendoza,  Archetypo  de  Virtudes, 
Espejo  de  Prelados,  el  Venerable  Padre  y Siervo  de  Dios,  F.  Francisco 
Ximenez  de  Cisneros  (Palmero,  1653),  Archivo,  p.  4.)  This  account  of 
the  precipitate  manner  in  which  the  epistles  were  composed,  may  help  to 
explain  the  cause  of  the  occasional  inconsistencies  and  anachronisms,  that  are 
to  be  found  in  them;  and  which  their  author,  had  he  been  more  patient  of 
the  labor  of  revision,  would  doubtless  have  corrected.  But  he  seems  to  have 
had  little  relish  for  this,  even  in  his  more  elaborate  works,  composed  with  a 
view  to  publication.  (See  his  own  honest  confessions  in  his  book  “ De 
Rebus  Oceanicis,  dec.  8,  cap.  8,  9.)  After  all,  the  errors,  such  as  they  are, 
in  his  Epistles,  may  probably  be  chiefly  charged  on  the  publisher.  The 
first  edition  appeared  at  Alcala  de  Henares,  in  1530,  about  four  years  after 
the  author’s  death.  It  has  now  become  exceedingly  rare.  The  second 
and  last,  being  the  one  used  in  the  present  History,  came  out  in  a more 
beautiful  form  from  the  Elzevir  press,  Amsterdam,  in  1670,  folio.  Of  this 
also  but  a srnall  number  of  copies  were  struck  off.  The  learned  editor 
takes  much  credit  to  himself  for  having  purified  the  work  from  many  errors, 
which  had  flowed  from  the  heedlessness  of  his  predecessor.  It  will  not  be 
difficult  to  detect  several  yet  remaining.  Such,  for  example,  as  a memor- 
able letter  on  the  lues  venerea  (No.  68.)  obviously  misplaced,  even  accord- 
ing to  its  own  date;  and  that  numbered  168,  in  which  two  letters  are  cvi- 


SIEGE  OF  BAZA. 


323 

dently  blended  into  one.  But  it  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  examples. — It 
'is  very  desirable  that  an  edition  of  this  valuable  correspondence  should  be 
published,  under  the  care  of  some  one  qualified  to  illustrate  it  by  his  inti- 
macy with  the  history  of  the  period,  as  well  as  to  correct  the  various  inac- 
curacies which  have  crept  into  it,  whether  through  the  carelessness  of  the 
author  or  of  his  editors. 

I have  been  led  into  this  length  of  remark  by  some  strictures  which  met 
my  eye  in  the  recent  work  of  Mr.  Hallam;  who  intimates  his  belief,  that 
the  Epistles  of  Martyr,  instead  of  being  written  at  their  respective  dates, 
were  produced  by  him  at  some  later  period;  (Introduction  to  the  Literature 
of  Europe  (London,  1837),  vol.  i.,  pp.  439-441;)  a conclusion  which  I sus- 
pect this  acute  and  candid  critic  would  have  been  slow  to  adopt,  had  he 
perused  the  correspondence  in  connexion  with  the  history  of  the  times,  or 
weighed  the  unqualified  testimony  borne  by  contemporaries  to  its  minute 
accuracy. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. — SIEGE  AND  SURRENDER  OF  THE  CITY 
OF  GRANADA. 

1490 — 1492. 

The  Infanta  Isabella  affianced  to  the  Prince  of  Portugal. — Isabella  deposes 
Judges  at  Valladolid. — Encampment  before  Granada. — The  Queen 
surveys  the  City. — Moslem  and  Christian  Chivalry. — Conflagration 
of  the  Christian  Camp. — Erection  of  Santa  Fe. — Capitulation  of 
Granada. — Results  of  the  War. — Its  moral  Influence. — Its  military 
Influence. — Fate  of  the  Moors. — Death  and  Character  of  the  Marquis 
of  Cadiz. 


In  the  spring  of  1490,  ambassadors  arrived  from  Lisbon  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  into  effect  the  treaty  of  marriage, 
which  had  been  arranged  between  Alonso,  heir  of  the  Portu- 
guese monarchy,  and  Isabella,  infanta  of  Castile.  An  alliance 
with  this  kingdom,  which  from  its  contiguity  possessed  such 
ready  means  of  annoyance  to  Castile,  and  which  had  shown 
such  willingness  to  employ  them  in  enforcing  the  pretensions 
of  Joanna  Beltraneja,  was  an  object  of  importance  to  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella.  No  inferior  consideration  could  have 
reconciled  the  queen  to  a separation  from  this  beloved  daugh- 
ter, her  eldest  child,  whose  gentle  and  uncommonly  amiable 
disposition  seems  to  have  endeared  her  beyond  their  other 
children  to  her  parents. 

The  ceremony  of  the  affiancing  took  place  at  Seville,  in 
the  month  of  April,  Don  Fernando  de  Silveira  appearing  as 
the  representative  of  the  prince  of  Portugal;  and  it  was  fol- 
lowed by  a succession  of  splendid  fetes  and  tourneys.  Lists 
were  enclosed,  at  some  distance  from  the  city  on  the  shores 
of  the  Guadalquivir,  and  surrounded  with  galleries  hung  with 
silk  and  cloth  of  gold,  and  protected  from  the  noontide  heat 
by  canopies  or  awnings,  richly  embroidered  with  the  armorial 
bearings  of  the  ancient  houses  of  Castile.  The  spectacle  was 
graced  by  all  the  rank  and  beauty  of  the  court,  with  the  in- 
fanta lasbella  in  the  midst,  attended  by  seventy  noble  ladies, 
and  a hundred  pages  of  the  royal  household.  The  cavaliers 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


325 


of  Spain,  young  and  old,  thronged  to  the  tournament,  as 
eager  to  win  laurels  on  the  mimic  theatre  of  war,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  so  brilliant  an  assemblage,  as  they  had  shown  them- 
selves in  the  sterner  contests  with  the  Moors.  King  Ferdi- 
nand, who  broke  several  lances  on  the  occasion,  was  among 
the  most  distinguished  of  the  combatants  for  personal  dex- 
terity and  horsemanship.  The  martial  exercises  of  the  day 
were  relieved  by  the  more  effeminate  recreations  of  dancing 
and  music  in  the  evening;  and  every  one  seemed  willing  to 
welcome  the  season  of  hilarity,  after  the  long-protracted  fa- 
tigues of  war.1 

In  the  following  autumn,  the  infanta  was  escorted  into 
Portugal  by  the  cardinal  of  Spain,  the  grand  master  of  St. 
James,  and  a numerous  and  magnificent  retinue.  Her  dowry 
exceeded  that  usually  assigned  to  the  infantas  of  Castile,  by 
five  hundred  marks  of  gold  and  a thousand  of  silver;  and  her 
wardrobe  was  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
gold  florins.  The  contemporary  chroniclers  dwell  with  much 
complacency  on  these  evidences  of  the  stateliness  and  splen- 
dor of  the  Castilian  court.  Unfortunately,  these  fair  auspices 
were  destined  to  be  clouded  too  soon  by  the  death  of  the 
prince,  her  husband.2 

No  sooner  had  the  campaign  of  the  preceding  year  been 
brought  to  a close,  than  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  sent  an  em- 
bassy to  the  king  of  Granada,  requiring  a surrender  of  his 
capital,  conformably  to  his  stipulations  at  Loja,  which  guaran- 
teed this,  on  the  capitulation  of  Baza,  Almeria,  and  Guadix. 
That  time  had  now  arrived;  King  Abdallah,  however,  ex- 
cused himself  from  obeying  the  summons  of  the  Spanish 
sovereigns,  replying  that  he  was  no  longer  his  own  master, 
and  that,  although  he  had  all  the  inclination  to  keep  his  en- 
gagements, he  was  prevented  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  city, 
now  swollen  much  beyond  its  natural  population,  who  reso- 
lutely insisted  on  its  defence.3 

It  is  not  probable  that  the  Moorish  king  did  any  great  vio- 
lence to  his  feelings,  in  this  evasion  of  a promise  extorted 
from  him  in  captivity.  At  least,  it  would  seem  so  from  the  hos- 
tile movements  which  immediately  succeeded.  The  people 
of  Granada  resumed  all  at  once  their  ancient  activity,  foraying 
into  the  Christian  territories,  surprising  Alhendin  and  some 
other  places  of  less  importance,  and  stirring  up  the  spirit  of 
revolt  in  Guadix  and  other  conquered  cities.  Granada, which 
had  slept  through  the  heat  of  the  struggle,  seemed  to  revive 
at  the  very  moment  when  exertion  became  hopeless. 

Ferdinand  was  not  slow  in  retaliating  these  acts  of  aggres- 


326 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


sion.  In  the  spring  of  1490,  he  marched  with  a strong  force 
into  the  cultivated  plain  of  Granada,  sweeping  off,  as  usual, 
the  crops  and  cattle,  and  rolling  the  tide  of  devastation  up 
to  the  very  walls  of  the  city.  In  this  campaign  he  conferred 
the  honor  of  knighthood  on  his  son,  prince  John,  then  only 
twelve  years  of  age,  whom  he  had  brought  with  him,  after 
the  ancient  usage  of  the  Castilian  nobles,  of  training  up  their 
children  from  very  tender  years  in  the  Moorish  wars.  The 
ceremony  was  performed  on  the  banks  of  the  grand  canal 
under  the  battlements  almost  of  the  beleaguered  city.  The 
dukes  of  Cadiz  and  Medina  Sidonia  were  prince  John’s 
sponsors;  and,  after  the  completion  of  the  ceremony,  the 
new  knight  conferred  the  honors  of  chivalry  in  like  manner 
on  several  of  his  young  companions  in  arms.4 

In  the  following  autumn,  Ferdinand  repeated  his  ravages 
in  the  vega,  and,  at  the  same  time  appearing  before  the  dis- 
affected city  of  Guadix  with  a force  large  enough  to  awe  it 
into  submission,  proposed  an  immediate  investigation  of  the 
conspiracy.  He  promised  to  inflict  summary  justice  on  all 
who  had  been  in  any  degree  concerned  in  it;  at  the  same  time 
offering  permission  to  the  inhabitants,  in  the  abundance  of 
his  clemency,  to  depart  with  all  their  personal  effects  where- 
ever  they  would,  provided  they  should  prefer  this  to  a judi- 
cial investigation  of  their  conduct.  This  politic  proffer  had 
its  effect.  There  were  few,  if  any  of  the  citizens,  who  had 
not  been  either  directly  concerned  in  the  conspiracy,  or  privy 
to  it.  With  one  accord,  therefore,  they  preferred  exile  to 
trusting  to  the  tender  mercies  of  their  judges.  In  this  way, 
says  the  Curate  of  Los  Palacios,  by  the  mystery  of  our  Lord, 
was  the  ancient  city  of  Guadix  brought  again  within  the 
Christian  fold;  the  mosques  converted  into  Christian  temples, 
filled  with  the  hariponies  of  Catholic  worship,  and  the  pleasant 
places,  which  for  nearly  eight  centuries  had  been  trampled 
under  the  foot  of  the  infidel,  were  once  more  restored  to  the 
followers  of  the  Cross. 

A similar  policy  produced  similar  results  in  the  cities  of 
Almeria  and  Baza,  whose  inhabitants,  evacuating  their  an- 
cient homes,  transported  themselves,  with  such  personal 
effects  as  they  could  carry,  to  the  city  of  Granada,  or  the 
coast  of  Africa.  The  space  thus  opened  by  the  fugitive  popu- 
lation was  quickly  filled  by  the  rushing  tide  of  Spaniards.6 

It  is  impossible  at  this  day,  to  contemplate  these  events 
with  the  triumphant  swell  of  exultation,  with  which  they  are 
recorded  by  contemporary  chroniclers.  That  the  Moors  were 
guilty  (though  not  so  generally  as  pretended)  of  the  alleged 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


327 


conspiracy,  is  not  in  itself  improbable,  and  is  corroborated 
indeed  by  the  Arabic  statements.  But  the  punishment  was 
altogether  disproportionate  to  the  offence.  Justice  might 
surely  have  been  satisfied  by  a selection  of  the  authors  and 
principal  agents  of  the  meditated  insurrection; — for  no  overt 
act  appears  to  have  occurred.  But  avarice  was  too  strong 
for  justice;  and  this  act,  which  is  in  perfect  conformity  to 
the  policy  systematically  pursued  by  the  Spanish  crown  for 
more  than  a century  afterward,  may  be  considered  as  one  of 
the  first  links  in  the  long  chain  of  persecution,  which  termi- 
nated in  the  expulsion  of  the  Moriscoes. 

During  the  following  year,  1491,  a circumstance  occurred 
illustrative  of  the  policy  of  the  present  government  in  refer- 
ence to  ecclesiastical  matters.  The  chancery  of  Valladolid 
having  appealed  to  the  pope  in  a case  coming  within  its  own 
exclusive  jurisdiction,  the  queen  commanded  Alonso  de  Val- 
divieso,  bishop  of  Leon,  the  president  of  the  court,  together 
with  all  the  auditors,  to  be  removed  from  their  respective 
offices,  which  she  delivered  to  anew  board,  having  the  bishop 
of  Oviedo  at  its  head.  This  is  one  among  many  examples  of 
the  constancy  with  which  Isabella,  notwithstanding  her  reve- 
rence for  religion,  and  respect  for  its  ministers,  refused  to 
compromise  the  national  independence  by  recognizing  in  any 
degree  the  usurpations  of  Rome.  From  this  dignified  atti- 
tude, so  often  abandoned  by  her  successors,  she  never 
swerved  for  a moment  during  the  course  of  her  long  reign.6 

The  winter  of  1490  was  busily  occupied  with  preparations 
for  the  closing  campaign  against  Granada.  Ferdinand  took 
command  of  the  army  in  the  month  of  April,  1491,  with  the 
purpose  of  sitting  down  before  the  Moorish  capital,  not  to 
rise  until  its  final  surrender.  The  troops,  which  mustered 
in  the  Val  de  Velillos,  are  computed  by  most  historians  at 
fifty  thousand  horse  and  foot,  although  Martyr,  who  served 
as  a volunteer,  swells  the  number  to  eighty  thousand.  They 
were  drawn  from  the  different  cities,  chiefly,  as  usual,  from 
Andalusia,  which  had  been  stimulated  to  truly  gigantic  efforts 
throughout  this  protracted  war,7  and  from  the  nobility  of 
every  quarter,  many  of  whom,  wearied  out  with  the  contest, 
contented  themselves  with  sending  their  quotas,  while  many 
others,  as  the  marquises  of  Cadiz,  Villena,  the  counts  of  Ten- 
dilla,  Cabra,  Urena,  and  Alonso  de  Aguilar,  appeared  in  per- 
son, eager,  as  they  had  borne  the  brunt  of  so  many  hard 
campaigns,  to  share  in  the  closing  scene  of  triumph. 

On  the  26th  of  the  month,  the  army  encamped  near  the 
fountain  of  Ojos  de  Huescar,  in  the  vega,  about  two  leagues 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


328 

distant  from  Granada  Ferdinand’s  first  movement  was  to 
detach  a considerable  force,  under  the  marquis  of  Villena, 
which  he  subsequently  supported  in  person  with  the  remain- 
der of  the  army,  for  the  purpose  of  scouring  the  fruitful  re- 
gions of  the  Alpuxarras,  which  served  as  the  granary  of  the 
capital.  This  service  was  performed  with  such  unsparing 
rigor,  that  no  less  than  twenty-four  towns  and  hamlets  in  the 
mountains  were  ransacked,  and  razed  to  the  ground.  After 
this,  Ferdinand  returned  loaded  with  spoil  to  his  former  posi- 
tion on  the  banks  of  the  Xenil,  in  full  view  of  the  Moorish 
metropolis,  which  seemed  to  stand  alone,  like  some  sturdy 
oak,  the  last  of  the  forest,  bidding  defiance  to  the  storm 
which  had  prostrated  all  its  brethren. 

Notwithstanding  the  failure  of  all  external  resources, 
Granada  was  still  formidable  from  its  local  position  and  its 
defences.  On  the  east  it  was  fenced  in  by  a wild  mountain 
barrier,  the  Sierra  Nevada,  whose  snow-clad  summits  diffused 
a grateful  coolness  over  the  city  through  the  sultry  heats  of 
summer.  The  side  toward  the  vega,  facing  the  Christian 
encampment,  was  encircled  by  walls  and  towers  of  massive 
strength  and  solidity.  The  population,  swelled  to  two  hun- 
dred thousand  by  the  immigration  from  the  surrounding 
country,  was  likely,  indeed,  to  be  a burden  in  a protracted 
siege;  but  among  them  were  twenty  thousand,  the  flower  of 
the  Moslem  chivalry,  who  had  escaped  the  edge  of  the  Chris- 
tian sword.  In  front  of  the  city,  for  an  extent  of  nearly  ten 
leagues,  lay  unrolled,  the  magnificent  vega, 

“ Fresca  y regalada  vega, 

Dulce  recreacion  de  damas 
Y de  hombres  gloria  immensa;” 

whose  prolific  beauties  could  scarcely  be  exaggerated  in  the 
most  florid  strains  of  the  Arabian  minstrel,  and  which  still 
bloomed  luxuriant,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  ravages  of 
the  preceding  season.8 

The  inhabitants  of  Granada  were  filled  with  indignation  at 
the  sight  of  their  enemy,  thus  encamped  under  the  shadow, 
as  it  were,  of  their  battlements.  They  sallied  forth  in  small 
bodies,  or  singly,  challenging  the  Spaniards  to  equal  encoun- 
ter. Numerous  were  the  combats  which  took  place  between 
the  high-mettled  cavaliers  on  both  sides,  who  met  on  the  level 
arena,  as  on  a tilting-ground,  where  they  might  display  their 
prowess  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  beauty  and  chivalry 
of  their  respective  nations;  for  the  Spanish  camp  was  graced, 
as  usual,  by  the  presence  of  queen  Isabella  and  the  infantas.. 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL.  329 

with  the  courtly  train  of  ladies,  who  had  accompanied  their 
royal  mistress  from  Alcala  la  Real  The  Spanish  ballads  glow 
with  picturesque  details  of  these  knightly  tourneys,  forming 
the  most  attractive  portion  of  this  romantic  minstrelsy,  which, 
celebrating  the  prowess  of  Moslem,  as  well  as  Christian  war- 
riors, sheds  a dying  glory  round  the  last  hours  of  Granada.9 

The  festivity,  which  reigned  throughout  the  camp  on  the 
arrival  of  Isabella,  did  not  divert  her  attention  from  the  stern 
business  of  war.  She  superintended  the  military  prepara- 
tions, and  personally  inspected  every  part  of  the  encamp- 
ment. She  appeared  on  the  field  superbly  mounted,  and 
dressed  in  complete  armor;  and,  as  she  visited  the  different 
quarters  and  reviewed  her  troops,  she  administered  words  of 
commendation  or  sympathy,  suited  to  the  condition  of  the 
soldier.10 

On  one  occasion,  she  expressed  a desire  to  take  a nearer 
survey  of  the  city.  For  this  purpose,  a house  was  selected, 
affording  the  best  point  of  view,  in  the  little  village  of  Zubia, 
at  no  great  distance  from  Granada.  The  king  and  queen 
stationed  themselves  before  a window,  which  commanded  an 
unbroken  prospect  of  the  Alhambra,  and  the  most  beautiful 
quarter  of  the  town.  In  the  meanwhile,  a considerable  force, 
under  the  marquis  duke  of  Cadiz,  had  been  ordered,  for  the 
protection  of  the  royal  persons,  to  take  up  a position  between 
the  village  and  the  city  of  Granada,  with  strict  injunctions 
on  no  account  to  engage  the  enemy,  as  Isabella  was  unwilling 
to  stain  the  pleasures  of  the  day  with  unnecessary  effusion  of 
blood. 

The  people  of  Granada,  however,  were  too  impatient  long 
to  endure  the  presence,  and  as  they  deemed  it,  the  bravado 
of  their  enemy.  They  burst  forth  from  the  gates  of  the  capi- 
tal, dragging  along  with  them  several  pieces  of  ordnance, 
and  commenced  a brisk  assault  on  the  Spanish  lines.  The 
latter  sustained  the  shock  with  firmness,  till  the  marquis  of 
Cadiz,  seeing  them  thrown  into  some  disorder,  found  it  ne- 
cessary to  assume  the  offensive,  and,  mustering  his  followers 
around  him,  made  one  of  those  desperate  charges,  which  had 
so  often  broken  the  enemy.  The  Moorish  cavalry  faltered; 
but  might  have  disputed  the  ground,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
infantry,  which,  composed  of  the  rabble  population  of  the 
city,  was  easily  thrown  into  confusion,  and  hurried  the  horse 
along  with  it.  The  rout  now  became  general.  The  Spanish 
cavaliers,  whose  blood  was  up,  pursued  to  the  very  gates  of 
Granada,  “and  not  a lance,”  says  Bernaldez,  “that  day,  but 
was  dyed  in  the  blood  of  the  infidel.”  Two  thousand  of  the 


330 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


enemy  were  slain  and  taken  in  the  engagement,  which  lasted 
only  a short  time;  and  the  slaughter  was  stopped  only  by  the 
escape  of  the  fugitives  within  the  walls  of  the  city.11 

About  the  middle  of  July,  an  accident  occurred  in  the 
camp,  which  had  like  to  have  been  attended  with  fatal  con- 
sequences. The  queen  was  lodged  in  a superb  pavilion,  be- 
longing to  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  and  always  used  by  him  in 
the  Moorish  war.  By  the  carelessness  of  one  of  her  atten- 
dants, a lamp  was  placed  in  such  a situation,  that  during  the 
night,  perhaps  owing  to  a gust  of  wind,  it  set  fire  to  the 
drapery  or  loose  hangings  of  the  pavilion,  which  was  instantly 
in  a blaze.  The  flame  communicated  with  fearful  rapidity  to 
the  neighboring  tents,  made  of  light,  combustible  materials, 
and  the  camp  was  menaced  with  general  conflagration  This 
occurred  at  the  dead  of  night,  when  all  but  the  sentinels  were 
buried  in  sleep.  The  queen,  and  her  children,  whose  apart- 
ments were  near  hers,  were  in  great  peril,  and  escaped  with 
difficulty,  though  fortunately  without  injury.  The  alarm 
soon  spread.  The  trumpets  sounded  to  arms,  for  it  was  sup- 
posed to  be  some  night  attack  of  the  enemy.  Ferdinand 
snatching  up  his  arms  hastily,  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his 
troops;  but,  soon  ascertaining  the  nature  of  the  disaster,  con- 
tented himself  with  posting  the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  with  a 
strong  body  of  horse,  over  against  the  city,  in  order  to  repel 
any  sally  from  that  quarter.  None,  however,  was  attempted, 
and  the  fire  was  at  length  extinguished  without  personal  in- 
jury, though  not  without  loss  of  much  valuable  property,  in 
jewels,  plate,  brocade,  and  other  costly  decorations  of  the 
tents  of  the  nobility.12 

In  order  to  guard  against  a similar  disaster,  as  well  as  to 
provide  comfortable  winter  quarters  for  the  army*  should  the 
siege  be  so  long  protracted  as  to  require  it,  it  was  resolved  to 
build  a town  of  substantial  edifices  on  the  place  of  the  present 
encampment.  The  plan  was  immediately  put  in  execution. 
The  work  was  distributed  in  due  proportions  among  the 
troops  of  the  several  cities  and  of  the  great  nobility;  the  sol- 
dier was  on  a sudden  converted  into  an  artisan,  and,  instead 
of  war,  the  camp  echoed  with  the  sounds  of  peaceful  labor. 

In  less  than  three  months,  this  stupendous  task  was  ac- 
complished. The  spot  so  recently  occupied  by  light,  flutter- 
ing pavilions,  was  thickly  covered  with  solid  structures  of 
stone  and  mortar,  comprehending,  besides  dwelling  houses, 
stables  for  a thousand  horses.  The  town  was  thrown  into  a 
quadrangular  form,  traversed  by  two  spacious  avenues,  inter- 
secting each  other  at  right  angles  in  the  centre,  in  the  form 


DON  GONZALO  FERNANDEZ  DE  CORDOVA. 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


33 1 


of  a cross,  with  stately  portals  at  each  of  the  four  extremities. 
Inscriptions  on  blocks  of  marble  in  the  various  quarters,  re- 
corded the  respective  shares  of  the  several  cities  in  the  exe- 
cution of  the  work.  When  it  was  completed,  the  whole  army 
was  desirous  that  the  new  city  should  bear  the  name  of  their 
illustrious  queen;  but  Isabella  modestly  declined  this  tribute, 
and  bestowed  on  the  place  the  title  of  Santa  Fe,  in  token  ol 
the  unshaken  trust,  manifested  by  her  people  throughout  this 
war,  in  Divine  Providence.  With  this  name  it  still  stands  as 
it  was  erected  in  1491,  a monument  of  the  constancy  and  en- 
during patience  of  the  Spaniards  “the  only  city  in  Spain,' ’ 
in  the  words  of  a Castilian  writer,  “that  has  never  been  con- 
taminated by  the  Moslem  heresy.”  13 

The  erection  of  Sante  Fe  by  the  Spaniards  struck  a greater 
damp  into  the  people  of  Granada,  than  the  most  successful 
military  achievement  could  have  done.  They  beheld  the 
enemy  setting  foot  on  their  soil,  with  a resolution  never  more 
to  resign  it.  They  already  began  to  suffer  from  the  rigorous 
blockade,  which  effectually  excluded  supplies  from  their  own 
territories,  while  all  communication  with  Africa  was  jealously 
intercepted  Symptoms  of  insubordination  had  begun  to 
show  themselves  among  the  overgrown  population  of  the 
city,  as  it  felt  more  and  more  the  pressure  of  famine.  In 
this  crisis,  the  unfortunate  Abdallah  and  his  principal  coun- 
sellors became  convinced,  that  the  place  could  not  be  main- 
tained much  longer;  and  at  length,  in  the  month  of  October, 
propositions  were  made  through  the  vizier  Abul  Cazim  Ab- 
delmalic,  to  open  a negotiation  for  the  surrender  of  the  place. 
The  affair  was  to  be  conducted  with  the  utmost  caution; 
since  the  people  of  Granada,  notwithstanding  their  pre- 
carious condition,  and  their  disquietude,  were  buoyed  up  by 
indefinite  expectations  of  relief  from  Africa,  or  some  other 
quarter. 

The  Spanish  sovereigns  intrusted  the  negotiation  to  their 
secretary  Fernando  de  Zafra,  and  to  Gonsalvo  de  Cordova, 
the  latter  of  whom  was  selected  for  this  delicate  business, 
from  his  uncommon  address,  and  his  familiarity  with  the 
Moorish  habits  and  language.  Thus  the  capitulation  of 
Granada  was  referred  to  the  man,  who  acquired  in  her  long 
wars  the  military  science,  which  enabled  him,  at  a later  period, 
to  foil  the  most  distinguished  generals  of  Europe. 

The  conferences  were  conducted  by  night  with  the  utmost 
secrecy,  sometimes  within  the  walls  of  Granada,  and  at  others, 
in  the  little  hamlet  of  Churriana,  about  a league  distant  from 
it.  At  length,  after  large  discussion  on  both  sides,  the  terms 


332 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


of  capitulation  were  definitively  settled,  and  ratified  by  the 
respective  monarchs  on  the  25th  of  November,  1491. 14 

The  conditions  were  of  similar,  though  somewhat  more 
liberal  import,  than  those  granted  to  Baza.  The  inhabitants 
of  Granada  were  to  retain  possession  of  their  mosques,  with 
the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  with  all  its  peculiar  rites 
and  ceremonies;  they  were  to  be  judged  by  their  own  laws, 
under  their  own  cadis  or  magistrates,  subject  to  the  general 
control  of  the  Castilian  governor;  they  were  to  be  unmolested 
in  their  ancient  usages,  manners,  language,  and  dress;  to  be 
protected  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  property,  with  the 
right  of  disposing  of  it  on  their  own  account,  and  of  migrat- 
ing when  and  where  they  would;  and  to  be  furnished  with 
vessels  for  the  conveyance  of  such  as  chose  within  three 
years  to  pass  into  Africa.  No  heavier  taxes  were  to  be  im- 
posed than  those  customarily  paid  to  their  Arabian  sovereigns, 
and  none  whatever  before  the  expiration  of  three  years.  King 
Abdallah  was  to  reign  over  a specified  territory  in  the  Al- 
puxarras,  for  which  he  was  to  do  homage  to  the  Castilian 
crown.  The  artillery  and  the  fortifications  were  to  be  de- 
livered into  the  hands  of  the  Christians,  and  the  city  was  to 
be  surrendered  in  sixty  days  from  the  date  of  the  capitula- 
tion. Such  were  the  principal  terms  of  the  surrender  of 
Granada,  as  authenticated  by  the  most  accredited  Castilian 
and  Arabian  authorities;  which  I have  stated  the  more  pre- 
cisely, as  affording  the  best  data  for  estimating  the  extent  of 
Spanish  perfidy  in  later  times.15 

The  conferences  could  not  be  conducted  so  secretly,  but 
that  some  report  of  them  got  air  among  the  populace  of  the 
city,  who  now  regarded  Abdallah  with  an  evil  eye  for  his 
connection  with  the  Christians.  When  the  fact  of  the  capi- 
tulation became  known,  the  agitation  speedily  mounted  into 
an  open  insurrection,  which  menaced  the  safety  of  the  city, 
as  well  as  of  Abdallah’s  person.  In  this  alarming  state  of 
things,  it  was  thought  best  by  that  monarch’s  counsellors,  to 
anticipate  the  appointed  day  of  surrender;  and  the  2d  of 
January,  1492,  was  accordingly  fixed  on  for  that  purpose. 

Every  preparation  was  made  by  the  Spaniards  for  perform- 
ing this  last  act  of  the  drama  with  suitable  pomp  and  effect. 
The  mourning  which  the  court  had  put  on  for  the  death  of 
Prince  Alonso  of  Portugal,  occasioned  by  a fall  from  his  horse 
a few  months  after  his  marriage  with  the  infanta  Isabella,  was 
exchanged  for  gay  and  magnificent  apparel.  On  the  morning 
of  the  2d,  the  whole  Christian  camp  exhibited  a scene  of  the 
most  animating  bustle.  The  grand  cardinal  Mendoza  was  sent 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


333 


forward  at  the  head  of  a large  detachment,  comprehending  his 
household  troops,  and  the  veteran  infantry  grown  grey  in  the 
Moorish  wars,  to  occupy  the  Alhambra  preparatory  to  the 
entrance  of  the  sovereigns.16  Ferdinand  stationed  himself  at 
some  distance  in  the  rear,  near  an ‘Arabian  mosque,  since 
consecrated  as  the  hermitage  of  St.  Sebastian.  He  was  sur- 
rounded by  his  courtiers',  with  their  stately  retinues,  glitter- 
ing in  gorgeous  panolpy,  and  proudly  displaying  the  armorial 
bearings  of  their  ancient  houses.  The  queen  halted  still 
farther  in  the  rear,  at  the  village  of  Armilla.17 

As  the  column  under  the  grand  cardinal  advanced  up  the 
Hill  of  Martyrs,  over  which  a road  had  been  constructed  for 
the  passage  of  the  artillery,  he  was  met  by  the  Moorish  prince 
Abdallah,  attended  by  fifty  cavaliers,  who  descending  the 
hill,  rode  up  to  the  position  occupied  by  Ferdinand  on  the 
banks  of  the  Xenil.  As  the  Moor  approached  the  Spanish 
king,  he  would  have  thrown  himself  from  his  horse,  and 
saluted  his  hand  in  token  of  homage,  but  Ferdinand  hastily 
prevented  him,  embracing  him  with  every  mark  of  sympathy 
and  regard.  Abdallah  then  delivered  up  the  keys  of  the  Al- 
hambra to  his  conqueror  saying,  “They  are  thine,  O king, 
since  Allah  so  decrees  it;  use  thy  success  with  clemency  and 
moderation.”  Ferdinand  would  have  uttered  some  words  of 
consolation  to  the  unfortunate  prince,  but  he  moved  forward 
with  dejected  air  to  the  spot  occupied  by  Isabella,  and,  after 
similar  acts  of  obeisance,  passed  on  to  join  his  family,  who 
had  preceded  him  with  his  most  valuable  effects  on  the  route 
to  the  Alpuxarras.18 

The  sovereigns  during  this  time  waited  with  impatience 
the  signal  of  the  occupation  of  the  city  by  the  cardinal’s 
troops,  which,  winding  slowly  along  the  outer  circuit  of  the 
walls,  as  previously  arranged,  in  order  to  spare  the  feelings 
of  the  citizens  as  far  as  possible,  entered  by  what  is  now  called 
the  gate  of  Los  Molinos.  In  a short  time,  the  large  silver 
cross,  borne  by  Ferdinand  throughout  the  crusade,  was  seen 
sparkling  in  the  sun-beams,  while  the  standards  of  Castile 
and  St.  Jago  waved  triumphantly  from  the  red  towers  of  the 
Alhambra.  At  this  glorious  spectacle,  the  choir  of  the  royal 
chapel  broke  forth  into  the  solemn  anthem  of  the  Te  Deum, 
and  the  whole  army,  penetrated  with  deep  emotion,  prostrated 
themselves  on  their  knees  in  adoration  of  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
who  had  at  length  granted  the  consummation  of  their  wishes, 
in  this  last  and  glorious  triumph  of  the  Cross.19  The  gran- 
dees who ’surrounded  Ferdinand  then  advanced  toward  the 
queen,  and  kneeling  down  saluted  her  hand  in  token  of  horn- 


334 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


age  to  her  as  sovereign  of  Granada.  The  procession  took 
up  its  march  toward  the  city,  “the  king  and  queen  moving  in 
the  midst,”  says  an  historian,  “emblazoned  with  royal  mag- 
nificence; and,  as  they  were  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  had 
now  achieved  the  completion  of  this  glorious  conquest,  they 
seemed  to  represent  even  more  than  their  wonted  majesty. 
Equal  with  each  other,  they  were  raised  far  above  the  rest  of 
the  world.  They  appeared,  indeed,  more  than  mortal,  and 
as  if  sent  by  Heaven  for  the  salvation  of  Spain.”  20 

In  the  mean  while  the  Moorish  king,  traversing  the  route 
of  the  Alpuxarras,  reached  a rocky  eminence  which  com- 
manded a last  view  of  Granada.  He  checked  his  horse,  and, 
as  his  eye  for  the  last  time  wandered  over  the  scenes  of  his 
departed  greatness,  his  heart  swelled,  and  he  burst  into  tears. 
“You  do  well,”  said  his  more  masculine  mother,  “to  weep 
like  a woman,  for  what  you  could  not  defend  like  a man!” 
“Alas!”  exclaimed  the  unhappy  exile,  “when  were  woes  ever 
equal  to  mine!”  The  scene  of  this  event  is  still  pointed  out 
to  the  traveller  by  the  people  of  the  district;  and  the  rocky 
height,  from  which  the  Moorish  chief  took  his  sad  farewell 
of  the  princely  abodes  of  his  youth,  is  commemorated  by  the 
poetical  title  of  El  Ultimo  Sospiro  del  Moro , “The  Last  Sigh 
of  the  Moor.” 

The  sequel  of  Abdallah’s  history  is  soon  told.  Like  his 
uncle,  El  Zagal,  he  pined  away  in  his  barren  domain  of  the  Al- 
puxarras, under  the  shadow,  as  it  were,  of  his  ancient  palaces. 
In  the  following  year,  he  passed  over  to  Fez  with  his  family, 
having  commuted  his  petty  sovereignty  for  a considerable  sum 
of  money  paid  him  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  soon  after 
fell  in  battle  in  the  service  of  an  African  prince,  his  kinsman. 
“Wretched  man,”  exclaims  a caustic  chronicler  of  his  nation, 
“who  could  lose  his  life  in  another’s  cause,  though  he  did 
not  dare  to  die  in  his  own.  Such,”  continues  the  Arabian, 
with  characteristic  resignation,  “was  the  immutable  decree 
of  destiny.  Blessed  be  Allah,  who  exalteth  and  debaseth  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  according  to  his  divine  will,  in  whose  ful- 
filment consists  that  eternal  justice,  which  regulates  all  human 
affairs.”  The  portal,  through  which  King  Abdallah  for  the 
last  time  issued  from  his  capital,  was  at  his  request  walled 
up,  that  none  other  might  again  pass  through  it.  In  this 
condition  it  remains  to  this  day,  a memorial  of  the  sad  des- 
tiny of  the  last  of  the  kings  of  Granada.21 

The  fall  of  Granada  excited  general  sensation  throughout 
Chistendom,  where  it  was  received  as  counterbalancing,  in  a 
manner,  the  loss  of  Constantinople,  nearly  half  a century 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


335 


before.  At  Rome,  the  event  was  commemorated  by  a solemn 
procession  of  the  pope  and  cardinals  to  St.  Peter’s,  where 
high  mass  was  celebrated,  and  the  public  rejoicing  continued 
for  several  days.”2  The  intelligence  was  welcomed  with  no 
less  satisfaction  in  England,  where  Henry  the  Seventh  was 
seated  on  the  throne.  The  circumstances  attending  it,  as 
related  by  Lord  Bacon,  will  not  be  devoid  of  interest  for  the 
reader.23 

Thus  ended  the  war  of  Granada,  which  is  often  compared 
by  the  Castilian  chroniclers  to  that  of  Troy  in  its  duration, 
and  which  certainly  fully  equalled  the  latter  in  variety  of 
picturesque  and  romantic  incidents,  and  in  circumstances  of 
poetical  interest.  With  the  surrender  of  its  capital,  termi- 
nated the  Arabian  empire  in  the  Peninsula,  after  an  existence 
of  seven  hundred  and  forty-one  years  from  the  date  of  the 
original  conquest.  The  consequences  of  this  closing  war 
were  of  the  highest  moment  to  Spain.  The  most  obvious, 
was  the  recovery  of  an  extensive  territory,  hitherto  held  by 
a people,  whose  difference  of  religion,  language,  and  general 
habits,  made  them  not  only  incapable  of  assimilating  with 
their  Christian  neighbors,  but  almost  their  natural  enemies; 
while  their  local  position  was  a matter  of  just  concern,  as 
interposed  between  the  great  divisions  of  the  Spanish  mon- 
archy, and  opening  an  obvious  avenue  to  invasion  from  Africa. 

By  the  new  conquest,  moreover,  the  Spaniards  gained  a large'— 
extent  of  country,  possessing  the  highest  capacities  for  pro- 
duction, in  its  natural  fruitfulness  of  soil,  temperature  of 
climate,  and  in  the  state  of  cultivation  to  which  it  had  been 
brought  by  its  ancient  occupants;  while  its  shores  were  lined 
with  commodious  havens,  that  afforded  every  facility  for  com- 
merce. The  scattered  fragments  of  the  ancient  Visigothic 
empire  were  now  again,  with  the  exception  of  the  little  state 
of  Navarre,  combined  into  one  great  monarchy,  as  originally 
destined  by  nature;  and  Christian  Spain  gradually  rose  by 
means  of  her  new  acquisitions  from  a subordinate  situation, 
to  the  level  of  a first-rate  European  power. 

The  moral  influence  of  the  Moorish  war,  its  influence  on 
the  Spanish  character,  was  highly  important.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  the  great  divisions  of  the  country,  as  in  most  coun- 
tries during  the  feudal  ages,  had  been  brought  too  frequently 
into  collision  with  each  other  to  allow  the  existence  of  a 
pervading  national  feeling.  This  was  particularly  the  case 
in  Spain,  where  independent  states  insensibly  grew  out  of 
the  detached  fragments  of  territory  recovered  at  different 
times  from  the  Moorish  monarchy.  The  war  of  Granada 


33^ 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


subjected  all  the  various  sections  of  the  country  to  one  com- 
mon action,  under  the  influence  of  common  motives  of  the 
most  exciting  interest;  while  it  brought  them  in  conflict  with 
a race,  the  extreme  repugnance  of  whose  institutions  and 
character  to  their  own,  served  greatly  to  nourish  the  nation- 
ality of  sentiment.  In  this  way,  the  spark  of  patriotism  was 
kindled  throughout  the  whole  nation,  and  the  most  distant 
provinces  of  the  Peninsula  were  knit  together  by  a bond  of 
union,  which  has  remained  indissoluble. 

The  consequences  of  these  wars  in  a military  aspect  are 
also  worthy  of  notice.  Up  to  this  period,  war  had  been  car- 
ried on  by  irregular  levies,  extremely  limited  in  numerical 
amount  and  in  period  of  service;  under  little  subordination, 
except  to  their  own  immediate  chiefs,  and  wholly  unprovided 
with  the  apparatus  required  for  extended  operations.  The 
Spaniards  were  even  lower  than  most  of  the  European  nations 
in  military  science,  as  is  apparent  from  the  infinite  pains  of 
Isabella  to  avail  herself  of  all  foreign  resources  for  their  im- 
provement. In  the  war  of  Granada,  masses  of  men  were^. 
brought  together,  far  greater  than  had  hitherto  been  known 
in  modern  warfare.  They  were  kept  in  the  field  not  only 
through  long  campaigns,  but  far  into  the  winter;  a thing 
altogether  unprecedented.  They  were  made  to  act  in  concert, 
and  the  numerous  petty  chiefs  brought  in  complete  subject 
to  one  common  head,  whose  personal  character  enforced  the 
authority  of  station.  Lastly,  they  were  provided  with  all  the 
requisite  munitions,  through  the  providence  of  Isabella,  who 
introduced  into  the  service  the  most  skilful  engineers  from 
other  countries,  and  kept  in  pay  bodies  of  mercenaries,  as  the 
Swiss  for  example,  reputed  the  best  disciplined  troops  of  that 
day.  In  this  admirable  school,  the  Spanish  soldier  was  grad- 
ually trained  to  patient  endurance,  fortitude,  and  thorough 
subordination;  and  those  celebrated  captains  were  formed, 
with  that  invincible  infantry,  which  in  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century  spread  the  military  fame  of  their  country 
over  all  Chistendom. 

But,  with  all  our  sympathy  with  the  conquerors,  it  is  im- 
possible, without  a deep  feeling  of  regret,  to  contemplate  the 
decay  and  final  extinction  of  a race,  who  had  made  such  high 
advances  in  civilization  as  the  Spanish  Arabs;  to  see  them 
driven  from  the  stately  palaces  reared  by  their  own  hands, 
wandering  as  exiles  over  the  lands,  which  still  blossomed 
with  the  fruits  of  their  industry,  and  wasting  away  under  per- 
secution, until  their  very  name  as  a nation  was  blotted  out 
from  the  map  of  history.24  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


337 


they  had  long  since  reached  their  utmost  limit  of  advance* 
ment  as  a people.  The  light  shed  over  their  history  shines 
from  distant  ages;  for,  during  the  later  period  of  their  exist- 
ence, they  appear  to  have  reposed  in  a state  of  torpid,  luxu- 
rious indulgence,  which  would  seem  to  argue,  that,  when 
causes  of  external  excitement  were  withdrawn,  the  inherent 
vices  of  their  social  institutions  had  incapacitated  them  for 
the  further  production  of  excellence.  In  this  impotent  con- 
dition, it  was  wisely  ordered,  that  their  territory  should  be 
occupied  by  a people,  whose  religion  and  more  liberal  form  of 
government,  however  frequently  misunderstood  or  perverted, 
qualified  them  for  advancing  still  higher  the  interests  of 
humanity. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  to  terminate  the  narrative  of  the  war 
of  Granada,  with  some  notice  of  the  fate  of  Rodrigo  Ponce 
de  Leon,  marquis  duke  of  Cadiz;  for  he  may  be  regarded 
in  a peculiar  manner  as  the  hero  of  it,  having  struck  the  first 
stroke  by  the  surprise  of  Alhama.  and  witnessed  every  cam- 
paign till  the  surrender  of  Granada.  A circumstantial  account 
of  his  last  moments  is  afforded  by  the  pen  of  his  worthy 
countryman,  the  Andalusian  Curate  of  Los  Palacios.  The 
gallant  marquis  survived  the  close  of  the  war  only  a short 
time,  terminating  his  days  at  his  mansion  in  Seville,  on  the 
28th  of  August,  1492,  with  a disorder  brought  on  by  fatigue 
and  incessant  exposure.  He  had  reached  the  forty-ninth 
year  of  his  age,  and,  although  twice  married,  left  no  legiti- 
mate issue.  In  his  person,  he  was  of  about  the  middle  sta- 
ture, of  a compact,  symmetrical  frame,  a fair  complexion, 
with  light  hair  inclining  to  red.  He  was  an  excellent  horse- 
man, and  well  skilled  indeed  in  most  of  the  exercises  of 
chivalry.  He  had  the  rare  merit  of  combining  sagacity  with 
intrepidity  in  action.  Though  somewhat  impatient,  and 
slow  to  forgive,  he  was  frank  and  generous,  a warm  friend, 
and  a kind  master  to  his  vassals.25 

He  was  strict  in  his  observance  of  the  Catholic  worship, 
punctilious  in  keeping  all  the  church  festivals  and  in  enforc- 
ing their  observance  throughout  his  domains;  and,  in  war, 
he  was  a most  devout  champion  of  the  Virgin.  He  was 
ambitious  of  acquisitions,  but  lavish  of  expenditure,  especi- 
ally in  the  embellishment  and  fortification  of  his  towns  and 
castles;  spending  on  Alcala  de  Guadaira,  Xerez,  and  Alanis, 
the  enormous  sum  of  seventeen  million  maravedies.  To  the 
ladies  he  was  courteous  as  became  a true  knight.  At  his 
death,  the  king  and  queen  with  the  whole  court  went  into 
mourning;  “for  he  was  a much-loved  cavalier,’'  says  the 
Vol.  I.— 15. 


338 


WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


Curate,  “and  was  esteemed,  like  the  Cid,  both  by  friend  and 
foe;  and  no  Moor  durst  abide  in  that  quarter  of  the  field 
where  his  banner  was  displayed.” 

His  body,  after  lying  in  state  for  several  days  in  his  palace 
at  Seville,  with  his  trusty  sword  by  his  side,  with  which  he 
had  fought  all  his  battles,  was  borne  in  solemn  procession  by 
night  through  the  streets  of  the  city,  which  was  everywhere 
filled  with  the  deepest  lamentation;  and  was  finally  deposited 
in  the  great  chapel  of  the  Augustine  church,  in  the  tomb  of 
his  ancestors.  Ten  Moorish  banners,  which  he  had  taken  in 
battle  with  the  infidel,  before  the  war  of  Granada,  were  borne 
along  at  his  funeral,  “and  still  wave  over  his  sepulchre,” 
says  Bernaldez,  “keeping  alive  the  memory  of  his  exploits, 
as  undying  as  his  soul.”  The  banners  have  long  since 
mouldered  into  dust;  the  very  tomb  which  contained  his 
ashes  has  been  sacrilegiously  demolished;  but  the  fame  of 
the  hero  will  survive  as  long  as  any  thing  like  respect  for 
valor,  courtesy,  unblemished  honor,  or  any  other  attribute 
of  chivalry,  shall  be  found  in  Spain.26 


One  of  the  chief  authorities  on  which  the  account  of  the  Moorish  war 
rests,  is  Andres  Bernaldez,  Curate  of  Los  Palacios.  He  was  a native  of 
Fuente  in  Leon,  and  appears  to  have  received  his  early  education  under 
the  care  of  his  grandfather,  a notary  of  that  place,  whose  commendations 
of  a juvenile  essay  in  historical  writing  led  him  later  in  life  according  to  his 
own  account,  to  record  the  events  of  his  time  in  the  extended  and  regular 
form  of  a chronicle.  After  admission  to  orders,  he  was  made  chaplain  to 
Deza,  archbishop  of  Seville,  and  curate  of  Los  Palacios,  an  Andalusian  town 
not  far  from  Seville,  where  he  discharged  his  ecclesiastical  functions  with 
credit,  from  1488  to  1513,  at  which  time,  as  we  find  no  later  mention  of 
him,  he  probably  closed  his  life  with  his  labors. 

Bernaldez  had  ample  opportunities  for  accurate  information  relative  to 
the  Moorish  war,  since  he  lived,  as  it  wrere,  in  the  theatre  of  action,  and 
was  personally  intimate  with  the  most  considerable  men  of  Andalusia,  es- 
pecially the  marquis  of  Cadiz,  whom  he  has  made  the  Achilles  of  his  epic, 
assigning  him  a much  more  important  part  in  the  principal  transactions, 
than  is  always  warranted  by  other  authorities.  His  Chronicle  is  just  such 
as  might  have  been  anticipated  from  a person  of  lively  imagination,  and 
competent  scholarship  for  the  time,  deeply  dyed  with  the  bigotry  and  super- 
stition of  the  Spanish  clergy  in  that  century.  There  is  no  great  discrimi- 
nation apparent  in  the  work  of  the  worthy  curate,  who  dwells  with  goggle- 
eyed  credulity  on  the  most  absurd  marvels,  and  expends  more  pages  on  an 
empty  court  show,  than  on  the  most  important  schemes  of  policy.  But  if 
he  is  no  philosopher,  he  has,  perhaps  for  that  very  reason,  succeeded  in 
making  us  completely  master  of  the  popular  feelings  and  prejudices  of  the 
time;  while  he  gives  a most  vivid  portraiture  of  the  principal  scenes  and 
actors  in  this  stirring  war,  with  all  their  chivalrous  exploit,  and  rich  the- 
atrical accompaniment.  His  credulity  and  fanaticism,  moreover,  are  well 
compensated  by  a simplicity  and  loyalty  of  purpose,  which  secure  much 


SURRENDER  OF  THE  CAPITAL. 


339 


more  credit  to  his  narrative  than  attaches  to  those  of  more  ambitious  writ- 
ers, whose  judgment  is  perpetually  swayed  by  personal  or  party  interests. 
The  chronicle  descends  as  late  as  1513,  although,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  author’s  character,  it  is  entitled  to  much  less  confidence  in  the 
discussion  of  events  which  fell  without  the  scope  of  his  personal  observa- 
tion. Notwithstanding  its  historical  value  is  fully  recognized  by  the  Cas- 
tilian critics,  it  has  never  been  admitted  to  the  press,  but  still  remains, 
ingulfed  in  the  ocean  of  manuscripts,  with  which  the  Spanish  libraries  are 
deluged,. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  war  of  Granada,  which  is  so  admirably  suited 
in  all  its  circumstances  to  poetical  purposes,  should  not  have  been  more 
frequently  commemorated  by  the  epic  muse.  The  only  successful  attempt 
in  this  way,  with  which  I am  acquainted,  is  the  “Conquisto  di  Granata,” 
by  the  Florentine  Girolamo  Gratiani  Modena,  1650.  The  author  has  taken 
the  license,  independently  of  his  machinery,  of  deviating  very  freely  from 
the  historic  track;  among  other  things,  introducing  Columbus  and  the  Great 
Captain  as  principal  actors  in  the  drama,  in  which  they  played  at  most  but 
a very  subordinate  part.  The  poem,  which  swells  into  twenty-six  cantos, 
is  in  such  repute  with  the  Italian  critics,  that  Quadrio  does  not  hesitate  to 
rank  it  “among  the  best  epical  productions  of  the  age.”  A translation  of 
this  work  has  recently  appeared  at  Nuremberg,  from  the  pen  of  C.  M. 
Winterling,  which  is  much  commended  by  the  German  critics. 

Mr.  Irving’s  late  publication,  the  “Chronicle  of  the  Conquest  of  Gran- 
ada,” has  superseded  all  further  necessity  for  poetry,  and  unfortunately  for 
me,  for  history.  He  has  fully  availed  himself  of  all  the  picturesque  and 
animating  movements  of  this  romantic  era;  and  the  reader,  who  will  take 
the  trouble  to  compare  his  Chronicle  with  the  present  more  prosaic  and 
literal  narrative,  will  see  how  little  he  has  been  seduced  from  historic  ac- 
curacy by  the  poetical  aspect  of  his  subject.  The  fictitious  and  romantic 
dress  of  his  work  has  enabled  him  to  make  it  the  medium  for  reflecting 
more  vividly  the  floating  opinions  and  chimerical  fancies  of  the  age,  while 
he  has  illuminated  the  picture  with  the  dramatic  brilliancy  of  coloring 
denied  to  sober  history. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


APPLICATION  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS  AT  THE 
SPANISH  COURT. 

1492. 

Early  Discoveries  of  the  Potuguese. — Of  the  Spaniards. — Columbus. — His 
Application  at  the  Castilian  Court, — Rejected. — Negotiations  re- 
sumed.— Favorable  Disposition  of  the  Queen. — Arrangement  with 
Columbus. — He  sails  on  his  first  Voyage. — Indifference  to  the  Enter- 
prize. — Acknowledgments  due  to  Isabella. 

While  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were  at  Santa  Fe,  the  capitu- 
lation was  signed,  that  opened  the  way  to  an  extent  of  em- 
pire, compared  with  which  their  recent  conquests,  and  indeed 
all  their  present  dominions,  were  insignificant.  The  extra- 
ordinary intellectual  activity  of  the  Europeans  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  after  the  torpor  of  ages,  carried  them  forward  to 
high  advancement  in  almost  every  department  of  science, 
but  especially  nautical,  whose  surprising  results  have  acquired 
for  the  age,  the  glory  of  being  designated  as  peculiarly  that 
of  maritime  discovery.  This  was  eminently  favored  by  the 
political  condition  of  modern  Europe.  Under  the  Roman 
empire,  the  traffic  with  the  east  naturally  centred  in  Rome, 
the  commercial  capital  of  the  west.  After  the  dismember- 
ment of  the  empire,  it  continued  to  be  conducted  principally 
through  the  channel  of  the  Italian  ports,  whence  it  was  dif- 
used  over  the  remoter  regions  of  Christendom.  But  these 
countries,  which  had  now  risen  from  the  rank  of  subordinate 
provinces  to  that  of  separate,  independent  states,  viewed 
with  jealousy  this  monopoly  of  the  Italian  cities,  by  means 
of  which  these  latter  were  rapidly  advancing  beyond  them 
in  power  and  opulence.  This  was  especialy  the  case  with 
Portugal  and  Castile,1  which,  placed  on  the  remote  frontiers 
of  the  European  continent,  were  far  removed  from  the  great 
routes  of  Asiatic  intercourse;  while  this  disadvantage  was 
not  compensated  by  such  an  extent  of  territory,  as  secured 
consideration  to  some  other  of  the  European  states,  equally 
unfavorably  situated  for  commercial  purposes  with  them- 


Columbus’s  application  at  the  court.  341 

selves.  Thus  circumstanced,  the  two  nations  of  Castile  and 
Portugal  were  naturally  led  to  turn  their  eyes  on  the  great 
ocean  which  washed  their  western  borders,  and  to  seek  in 
its  hitherto  unexplored  recesses  for  new  domains,  and  if 
possible  strike  out  some  undiscovered  track  toward  the  opu- 
lent regions  of  the  east. 

The  spirit  of  maritime  enterprise  was  fomented,  and  greatly 
facilitated  in  its  operation,  by  the  invention  of  the  astrolabe, 
and  the  important  discovery  of  the  polarity  of  the  magnet, 
whose  first  application  to  the  purposes  of  navigation  on  an 
extended  scale,  may  be  referred  to  the  fifteenth  century.2 
The  Portuguese  were  the  first  to  enter  on  the  brilliant  path 
of  nautical  discovery,  which  they  pursued  under  the  infant 
Don  Henry  with  such  activity,  that,  before  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  they  had  penetrated  as  far  as  Cape  de 
Verd,  doubling  many  a fearful  headland,  which  had  shut  in 
the  timid  navigator  of  former  days;  until  at  length,  in  i486, 
they  descried  the  lofty  promontory  which  terminates  Africa 
on  the  south,  and  which,  hailed  by  King  John  the  Second, 
under  whom  it  was  discovered,  as  the  harbinger  of  the  long 
sought  passage  to  the  east,  received  the  cheering  appella- 
tion of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

The  Spaniards,  in  the  mean  while,  did  not  languish  in  the 
career  of  maritime  enterprise.  Certain  adventurers  from 
the  northern  provinces  of  Biscay  and  Guipuscoa,  in  1393, 
had  made  themselves  masters  of  one  of  the  smallest  of  the 
group  of  islands,  supposed  to  be  the  Fortunate  Isles  of  the 
ancients,  since  known  as  the  Canaries.  Other  private  adven- 
turers from  Seville  extended  their  conquests  over  these 
islands  in  the  beginning  of  the  following  century.  These 
were  completed  in  behalf  of  the  crown  under  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  who  equipped  several  fleets  for  their  reduction, 
which  at  length  terminated  in  1495  w^ta  that  of  Teneriffe.3 
From  the  commencement  of  their  reign,  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella had  shown  an  earnest  solicitude  for  the  encouragement 
of  commerce  and  nautical  science,  as  is  evinced  by  a variety 
of  regulations  which,  however  imperfect,  from  the  miscon- 
ception of  the  true  principles  of  trade  in  that  day,  are  suffi- 
ciently indicative  of  the  dispositions  of  the  government.4 
Under  them,  and  indeed  under  their  predecessors  as  far  back 
as  Henry  the  Third,  a considerable  traffic  had  been  carried  on 
with  the  western  coast  of  Africa,  from  which  gold  dust  and 
slaves  were  imported  into  the  city  of  Seville.  The  annalist 
of  that  city  notices  the  repeated  interference  of  Isabella  in 
behalf  of  these  unfortunate  beings,  by  ordinances  tending 


342 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


to  secure  them  a more  equal  protection  of  the  laws,  or  open- 
ing such  social  indulgences  as  might  mitigate  the  hardships 
of  their  condition.  A misunderstanding  gradually  arose  be- 
tween the  subjects  of  Castile  and  Portugal,  in  relation  to 
their  respective  rights  of  discovery  and  commerce  on  the 
African  coast,  which  promised  a fruitful  source  of  collision 
between  the  two  crowns;  but  which  was  happily  adjusted  by 
an  article  in  the  treaty  of  1479,  that  terminated  the  war  of 
the  succession.  By  this  it  was  settled,  that  the  right  of 
traffic  and  of  discovery  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa  should 
be  exclusively  reserved  to  the  Portuguese,  who  in  their  turn 
should  resign  all  claims  on  the  Canaries  to  the  crown  of 
Castile.  The  Spaniards,  thus  excluded  from  further  progress 
to  the  south,  seemed  to  have  no  other  opening  left  for  naval 
adventure  than  the  hitherto  untravelled  regions  of  the  great 
western  ocean.  Fortunately,  at  this  juncture,  an  individual 
appeared  among  them,  in  the  person  of  Christopher  Colum- 
bus, endowed  with  capacity  for  stimulating  them  to  this 
heroic  enterprise,  and  conducting  it  to  a glorious  issue.5 

This  extraordinary  man  was  a native  of  Genoa,  of  humble 
parentage,  though  perhaps  honorable  descent.6  He  was 
instructed  in  his  early  youth  at  Pavia,  where  he  acquired  a 
strong  relish  for  the  mathematical  sciences,  in  which  he  sub- 
sequently excelled.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  he  engaged  in  a 
seafaring  life,  which  he  followed  with  little  intermission  till 
1470;  when,  probably  little  more  than  thirty  years  of  age,7 
he  landed  in  Portugal,  the  country  to  which  adventurous 
spirits  from  all  parts  of  the  world  then  resorted,  as  the  great 
theatre  of  maritime  enterprise.  After  his  arrival,  he  con- 
tinued to  make  voyages  to  the  then  known  parts  of  the 
world,  and,  when  on  shore,  occupied  himself  with  the  con- 
struction and  sale  of  charts  and  maps;  while  his  geographical 
researches  were  considerably  aided  by  the  possession  of 
papers  belonging  to  an  eminent  Portuguese  navigator,  a 
deceased  relative  of  his  wife.  Thus  stored  with  all  that  nau- 
tical science  in  that  day  could  supply,  and  fortified  by  large 
practical  experience,  the  reflecting  mind  of  Columbus  was 
naturally  led  to  speculate  on  the  existence  of  some  other  land 
beyond  the  western  waters;  and  he  conceived  the  possibility 
of  reaching  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia,  whose  provinces  of 
Zipango  and  Cathay  were  emblazoned  in  such  gorgeous  colors 
in  the  narratives  of  Mandeville  and  the  Poli,  by  a more  direct 
and  commodious  route  than  that  which  traversed  the  eastern 
continent.8 

The  existence  of  land  beyond  the  Atlantic,  which  was  not 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


343 


discredited  by  some  of  the  most  enlightened  ancients,9  had 
become  matter  of  common  speculation  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century;  when  maritime  adventure  was  daily  dis- 
closing the  mysteries  of  the  deep,  and  bringing  to  light  new 
regions,  that  had  hitherto  existed  only  in  fancy.  A proof 
of  this  popular  belief  occurs  in  a curious  passage  of  the 
“Morgante  Maggiore”  of  the  Florentine  poet  Pulci,  a man 
of  letters,  but  not  distinguished  for  scientific  attainments 
beyond  his  day.10  The  passage  is  remarkable,  independently 
of  the  cosmographical  knowledge  it  implies,  for  its  allusion 
to  phenomena  in  physical  science,  not  established  till  more 
than  a century  later.  The  Devil,  alluding  to  the  vulgar 
superstition  respecting  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  thus  addresses 
his  companion  Rinaldo. 

“ Know  that  this  theory  is  false;  his  bark 
The  daring  mariner  shall  urge  far  o'er 
The  western  wave,  a smooth  and  level  plain, 

Albeit  the  earth  is  fashioned  like  a wheel. 

Man  was  in  ancient  days  of  grosser  mould, 

And  Hercules  might  blush  to  learn  how  far 
Beyond  the  limits  he  had  vainly  set, 

The  dullest  sea-boat  soon  shall  wing  her  way. 

Men  shall  descry  another  hemisphere, 

Since  to  one  common  centre  all  things  tend; 

So  earth,  by  curious  mystery  divine 

Well  balanced,  hangs  amid  the  starry  spheres. 

At  our  Antipodes  are  cities,  states, 

And  thronged  empires,  ne’er  divined  of  yore. 

But  see,  the  Sun  speeds  on  his  western  path 
To  glad  the  nations  with  expected  light.”  11 


Columbus’s  hypothesis  rested  on  much  higher  ground  than 
mere  popular  belief.  What  indeed  was  credulity  with  the 
vulgar,  and  speculation  with  the  learned,  amounted  in  his 
mind  to  a settled  practical  conviction,  that  made  him  ready 
to  peril  life  and  fortune  on  the  result  of  the  experiment. 
He  was  fortified  still  further  in  his  conclusions  by  a corre- 
spondence with  the  learned  Italian  Toscanelli,  who  furnished 
him  with  a map  of  his  own  projection,  in  which  the  eastern 
coast  of  Asia  was  delineated  opposite  to  the  western  frontier 
of  Europe.12 

Filled  with  lofty  anticipations  of  achieving  a discovery, 
which  would  settle  a question  of  such  moment,  so  long  in- 
volved in  obscurity,  Columbus  submitted  the  theory  on  which 
he  had  founded  his  belief  in  the  existence  of  a western  route 
to  King  John  the  Second,  of  Portugal.  Here  he  was  doomed 
to  encounter  for  the  first  time  the  embarrassments  and  mor- 


344 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


tifications,  which  so  often  obstruct  the  conceptions  of  genius, 
too  sublime  for  the  age  in  which  they  are  formed.  After  a 
long  and  fruitless  negotiation,  and  a dishonorable  attempt  on 
the  part  of  the  Portuguese  to  avail  themselves  clandestinely 
of  his  information,  he  quitted  Lisbon  in  disgust,  determined 
to  submit  his  proposals  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  relying  on 
their  reputed  character  for  wisdom  and  enterprise.13 

The  period  of  his  arrival  in  Spain,  being  the  latter  part  of 
1484, would  seem  to  have  been  the  most  unpropitious  possible 
to  his  design.  The  nation  was  then  in  the  heat  of  the  Moorish 
war,  and  the  sovereigns  were  unintermittingly  engaged,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  prosecuting  their  campaigns,  or  in  active  pre- 
paration for  them.  The  large  expenditure,  incident  to  this, 
exhausted  all  their  resources;  and  indeed  the  engrossing 
character  of  this  domestic  conquest  left  them  little  leisure  for 
indulging  in  dreams  of  distant  and  doubtful  discovery.  Co- 
lumbus, moreover,  was  unfortunate  in  his  first  channel  of 
communication  with  the  court.  He  was  furnished  by  Fray 
Juan  Perez  de  Marchena,  guardian  of  the  convent  of  La 
Rabida  in  Andalusia,  who  had  early  taken  a deep  interest  in 
his  plans,  with  an  introduction  to  Fernando  de  Talavera,  prior 
of  Prado,  and  confessor  of  the  queen,  a person  high  in  the 
royal  confidence,  and  gradually  raised  through  a succession 
of  ecclesiastical  dignities  to  the  archi-episcopal  see  of  Gra- 
nada. He  was  a man  of  irreproachable  morals,  and  of  com- 
prehensive benevolence  for  that  day,  as  is  shown  in  his  sub- 
sequent treatment  of  the  unfortunate  Moriscoes.14  He  was 
also  learned;  although  his  learning  was  that  of  the  cloister, 
deeply  tinctured  with  pedantry  and  superstition,  and  debased 
by  such  servile  deference  even  to  the  errors  of  antiquity,  as 
at  once  led  him  to  discountenance  every  thing  like  innovation 
or  enterprise.15 

With  these  timid  and  exclusive  views,  Talavera  was  so  far 
from  comprehending  the  vast  conceptions  of  Columbus,  that 
he  seems  to  have  regarded  him  as  a mere  visionary,  and  his 
hypothesis  as  involving  principles  not  altogether  orthodox. 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  desirous  of  obtaining  the  opinion  of 
the  most  competent  judges  on  the  merits  of  Columbus’s 
theory,  referred  him  to  a council  selected  by  Talavera  from  the 
most  eminent  scholars  of  the  kindgom,  chiefly  ecclesiastics, 
whose  profession  embodied  most  of  the  science  of  that  day. 
Such  was  the  apathy  exhibited  by  this  learned  conclave,  and 
so  numerous  the  impediments  suggested  by  dulness,  preju- 
dice, or  skepticism,  that  years  glided  away  before  it  came  to  a 
decision.  During  this  time,  Columbus  appears  to  have  re- 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


345 


mained  in  attendance  on  the  court,  bearing  arms  occasionally 
in  the  campaigns,  and  experiencing  from  the  sovereigns  an 
unusual  degree  of  deference  and  personal  attention;  an  evi- 
dence of  which  is  afforded  in  the  disbursements  repeatedly 
made  by 'the  royal  order  for  his  private  expenses,  and  in  the 
instructions,  issued  to  the  municipalities  of  the  different  towns 
in  Andalusia,  to  supply  him  gratuitously  with  lodging  and 
other  personal  accomodations.16 

At  length,  however,  Columbus,  wearied  out  by  this  painful 
procrastination,  pressed  the  court  for  a definite  answer  to  his 
propositions;  when  he  was  informed,  that  the  council  of  Sala- 
manca pronounced  his  scheme  to  be  “vain,  impracticable, 
and  resting  on  grounds  too  weak  to  merit  the  support  of  the 
government.”  Many  in  the  council,  however,  were  too  en- 
lightened to  acquiesce  in  this  sentence  of  the  majority.  Some 
of  the  most  considerable  persons  of  the  court,  indeed,  moved 
by  the  cogency  of  Columbus’s  arguments,  and  effected  by 
the  elevation  and  grandeur  of  his  views,  not  only  cordially 
embraced  his  scheme,  but  extended  their  personal  intimacy 
and  friendship  to  him.  Such,  among  others,  were  the  grand 
cardinal  Mendoza,  a man  whose  enlarged  capacity,  and  ac- 
quaintance with  affairs,  raised  him  above  many  of  the  narrow 
prejudices  of  his  order,  and  Deza,  archbishop  of  Seville,  a 
Dominican  friar,  whose  commanding  talents  were  afterward 
unhappily  perverted  in  the  service  of  the  Holy  Office,  over 
which  he  presided  as  successor  to  Torquemada.17  The  au- 
thority of  these  individuals  had  undoubtedly  great  weight 
with  the  sovereigns,  who  softened  the  verdict  of  the  junto, 
by  an  assurance  to  Columbus,  that,  “although  they  were  too 
much  occupied  at  present  to  embark  in  his  undertaking,  yet, 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  they  should  find  both  time  and 
inclination  to  treat  with  him.  ’ ’ Such  was  the  ineffectual  result 
of  Columbus’s  long  and  painful  solicitation;  and  far  from 
receiving  the  qualified  assurance  of  the  sovereigns  in  mitiga- 
tion of  their  refusal,  he  seems  to  have  considered  it  as  per- 
emptory and  final.  In  great  dejection  of  mind,  therefore,  but 
without  further  delay,  he  quitted  the  court,  and  bent  his  way 
to  the  south,  with  the  apparently  almost  desperate  intent  of 
seeking  out  some  other  patron  to  his  undertaking.18 

Columbus  had  already  visited  his  native  city  of  Genoa,  for 
the  purpose  of  interesting  it  in  his  scheme  of  discovery;  but 
the  attempt  proved  unsuccessful.  He  now  made  application, 
it  would  seem,  to  the  dukes  of  Medina  Sidonia  and  Medina 
Celi,  successively,  from  the  latter  of  whom  he  experienced 
much  kindness  and  hospitality;  but  neither  of  these  nobles, 


346 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


whose  large  estates  lying  along  the  sea-shore  had  often  invited 
them  to  maritime  adventure,  was  disposed  to  assume  one 
which  seemed  too  hazardous  for  the  resources  of  the  crown. 
Without  wasting  time  in  further  solicitation,  Columbus  pre- 
pared with  a heavy  heart  to  bid  adieu  to  Spain,  and  carry  his 
proposals  to  the  king  of  France,  from  whom  he  had  received 
a letter  of  encouragement  while  detained  in  Andalusia.19 

His  progress,  however,  was  arrested  at  the  convent  of  La 
Rabida,  which  he  visited  previous  to  his  departure,  by  his 
friend  the  guardian,  who  prevailed  on  him  to  postpone  his 
journey  till  another  effort  had  been  made  to  move  the  Spanish 
court  in  his  favor.  For  this  purpose  the  worthy  ecclesiastic 
undertook  an  expedition  in  person  to  the  newly  erected  city 
of  Santa  Fe,  where  the  sovereigns  lay  encamped  before  Gra- 
nada. Juan  Perez  had  formerly  been  confessor  of  Isabella, 
and  was  held  in  great  consideration  by  her  for  his  excellent 
qualities.  On  arriving  at  the  camp,  he  was  readily  admitted 
to  an  audience,  when  he  pressed  the  suit  of  Columbus  with 
all  the  earnestness  and  reasoning  of  which  he  was  capable. 
The  friar’s  eloquence  was  supported  by  that  of  several  emi- 
nent persons,  whom  Columbus  during  his  long  residence  in 
the  country  had  interested  in  his  project,  and  who  viewed 
with  sincere  regret  the  prospect  of  its  abandonment.  Among 
these  individuals,  are  particularly  mentioned  Alonso  de 
Quintanilla,  comptroller  general  of  Castile,  Louis  de  St. 
Angel,  a fiscal  officer  of  the  crown  of  Aragon,  and  the  mar- 
chioness of  Moya,  the  personal  friend  of  Isabella,  all  of  whom 
exercised  considerable  influence  over  her  counsels.  Their 
representations,  combined  with  the  opportune  season  of  the 
application,  occurring  at  the  moment  when  the  approaching 
termination  of  the  Moorish  war  allowed  room  for  interest  in 
other  objects,  wrought  so  favorable  a change  in  the  disposi- 
tions of  the  sovereigns,  that  they  consented  to  resume  the 
negotiation  with  Columbus.  An  invitation  was  accordingly 
sent  to  him  to  repair  to  Santa  Fe,  and  a considerable  sum 
provided  for  his  suitable  equipment,  and  his  expenses  on 
the  road.20 

Columbus,  who  lost  no  time  in  availing  himself  of  this 
welcome  intelligence,  arrived  at  the  camp  in  season  to  wit- 
ness the  surrender  of  Granada,  when  every  heart,  swelling 
with  exultation  at  the  triumphant  termination  of  the  war, 
was  naturally  disposed  to  enter  with  greater  confidence  on  a 
new’  career  of  adventure.  At  his  interview  with  the  king  and 
queen,  he  once  more  exhibited  the  arguments  on  which  his 
hypothesis  was  founded.  He  then  endeavored  to  stimulate 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT, 


347 


the  cupidity  of  his  audience,  by  picturing  the  realms  of 
Mangi  and  Cathay,  which  he  confidently  expected  to  reach 
by  this  western  route,  in  all  the  barbaric  splendors  which 
had  been  shed  over  them  by  the  lively  fancy  of  Marco  Polo 
and  other  travellers  of  the  middle  ages;  and  he  concluded 
with  appealing  to  a higher  principle,  by  holding  out  the 
prospect  of  extending  the  empire  of  the  Cross  over  nations 
of  benighted  heathen,  while  he  proposed  to  devote  the  profits 
of  his  enterprise  to  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
This  last  ebullition,  which  might  well  have  passed  for  fanati- 
cism in  a later  day,  and  given  a visionary  tinge  to  his  whole 
project,  was  not  quite  so  preposterous  in  an  age,  in  which 
the  spirit  of  the  crusades  might  be  said  still  to  linger,  and 
the  romance  of  religion  had  not  yet  been  dispelled  by  sober 
reason.  The  more  temperate  suggestion  of  the  diffusion  of 
the  gospel  was  well  suited  to  affect  Isabella,  in  whose  heart 
the  principle  of  devotion  was  deeply  seated,  and  who,  in  all 
her  undertakings,  seems  to  have  been  far  less  sensible  to  the 
vulgar  impulses  of  avarice  or  ambition,  than  to  any  argument 
connected,  however  remotely,  with  the  interests  of  religion.21 

Amidst  all  these  propitious  demonstrations  toward  Colum- 
bus, an  obstacle  unexpectedly  arose  in  the  nature  of  his 
demands,  which  stipulated  for  himself  and  heirs  the  title  and 
authority  of  Admiral  and  Viceroy  over  all  lands  discovered 
by  him,  with  one  tenth  of  the  profits.  This  was  deemed 
wholly  inadmissible.  Ferdinand,  who  had  looked  with  cold 
distrust  on  the  expedition  from  the  first,  was  supported  by 
the  remonstrances  of  Talavera,  the  new  archbishop  of  Gra- 
nada; who  declared,  that  “such  demands  savored  of  the 
highest  degree  of  arrogance,  and  would  be  unbecoming  in 
their  Highnesses  to  grant  to  a needy  foreign  adventurer.” 
Columbus,  however,  steadily  resisted  every  attempt  to  induce 
him  to  modify  his  propositions.  On  this  ground,  the  con- 
ferences were  abruptly  broken  off,  and  he  once  more  turned 
his  back  upon  the  Spanish  court,  resolved  rather  to  forego  his 
splendid  anticipations  of  discovery,  at  the  very  moment  when 
the  career  so  long  sought  was  thrown  open  to  him,  than  sur- 
render one  of  the  honorable  distinctions  due  to  his  services. 
This  last  act  is  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  exhibition  in  his 
whole  life,  of  that  proud,  unyielding  spirit,  which  sustained 
him  through  so  many  years  of  trial,  and  enabled  him  at  length 
to  achieve  his  great  enterprise,  in  the  face  of  every  obstacle 
which  man  and  nature  had  opposed  to  it.22 

The  misunderstanding  was  not  suffered  to  be  of  long  dura- 
tion. Columbus’s  friends,  and  especially  Louis  de  St.  Angel, 


34§ 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


remonstrated  with  the  queen  on  these  proceedings  in  the 
most  earnest  manner.  He  frankly  told  her,  that  Columbus’s 
demands,  if  high,  were  at  least  contingent  on  success,  when 
they  would  be  well  deserved;  that,  if  he  failed,  he  required 
nothing.  He  expatiated  on  his  qualifications  for  the  under- 
taking, so  signal  as  to  insure  in  all  probability  the  patronage 
of  some  other  monarch,  who  would  reap  the- fruits  of  his  dis- 
coveries; and  he  ventured  to  remind  the  queen,  that  her 
present  policy  was  not  in  accordance  with  the  magnanimous 
spirit,  which  had  hitherto  made  her  the  ready  patron  of  great 
and  heroic  enterprise.  Far  from  being  displeased,  Isabella 
was  moved  by  his  honest  eloquence.  She  contemplated  the 
proposals  of  Columbus  in  their  true  light;  and,  refusing  to 
hearken  any  longer  to  the  suggestions  of  cold  and  timid 
counsellors,  she  gave  way  to  the  natural  impulses  of  her  own 
noble  and  generous  heart;  “I  will  assume  the  undertaking,” 
said  she,  “for  my  own  crown  of  Castile,  and  am  ready  to 
pawn  mv  jewels  to  defray  the  expenses  of  it,  if  the  funds  in 
the  treasury  shall  be  found  inadequate.”  The  treasury  had 
been  reduced  to  the  lowest  ebb  by  the  late  war;  but  the  re- 
ceiver, St.  Angel,  advanced  the  sums  required,  from  the 
Aragonese  revenues  deposited  in  his  hands.  Aragon  how- 
ever was  not  considered  as  adventuring  in  the  expedition, 
the  charges  and  emoluments  of  which  were  reserved  exclu- 
sively for  Castile.23 

Columbus,  who  was  overtaken  by  the  royal  messenger  at  a 
few  leagues’  distance  only  from  Granada,  experienced  the 
most  courteous  reception  on  his  return  to  Santa  Fe,  where  a 
definitive  arrangement  was  concluded  with  the  Spanish  sover- 
eigns, April  17th,  1492.  By  the  terms  of  the  capitulation, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  as  lords  of  the  ocean-seas,  consti- 
tuted Christopher  Columbus  their  admiral,  viceroy,  and  gov- 
ernor-general of  all  such  islands  and  continents  as  he  should 
discover  in  the  western  ocean,  with  the  privilege  of  nomina- 
ting three  candidates,  for  the  selection  of  one  by  the  crown, 
for  the  government  of  each  of  these  territories.  He  was  to 
be  vested  with  exclusive  right  of  jurisdiction  over  all  com- 
mercial transactions  within  his  admiralty.  He  was  to  be 
entitled  to  one  tenth  of  all  the  products  and  profits  within 
the  limits  of  his  discoveries,  and  an  additional  eighth,  provi- 
ded he  should  contribute  one  eighth  part  of  the  expense.  By 
a subsequent  ordinance,  the  official  dignities  above  numerated 
were  settled  on  him  and  his  heirs  for  ever,  with  the  privilege 
of  prefixing  the  title  of  Don  to  their  names,  which  had  not 
then  degenerated  into  an  appellation  of  mere  courtesy.24 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT.  349 

No  sooner  were  the  arrangements  completed,  than  Isabella 
prepared  with  her  characteristic  promptness  to  forward  the  ex- 
pedition by  the  most  efficient  measures.  Orders  were  sent  to 
Seville  and  the  other  ports  of  Andalusia,  to  furnish  stores  and 
other  articles  requisite  for  the  voyage,  free  of  duty,  and  at  as 
low  rates  as  possible.  The  fleet,  consisting  of  three  vessels, 
was  to  sail  from  the  little  port  of  Palos  in  Andalusia,  which 
had  been  condemned  for  some  delinquency  to  maintain  two 
caravels  for  a twelvemonth  for  the  public  service.  The  third 
vessel  was  furnished  by  the  admiral,  aided,  as  it  would  seem, 
in  defraying  the  charges,  by  his  friend  the  guardian  of  La 
Rabida,  and  the  Pinzons,  a family  in  Palos  long  distinguished 
for  its  enterprise  among  the  mariners  of  that  active  commu- 
nity. With  their  assistance,  Columbus  was  enabled  to  sur- 
mount the  disinclination,  and  indeed  open  opposition,  mani- 
fested by  the  Andalusian  mariners  to  his  perilous  voyage; 
so  that  in  less  than  three  months  his  little  squadron  was 
equipped  for  sea.  A sufficient  evidence  of  the  extreme 
unpopularity  of  the  expedition  is  afforded  by  a royal  ordi- 
nance of  the  30th  of  April,  promising  protection  to  all  per- 
sons, who  should  embark  in  it,  from  criminal  prosecution  of 
whatever  kind,  until  two  months  after  their  return.  The 
armament  consisted  of  two  caravels,  or  light  vessels  without 
decks,  and  a third  of  larger  burden.  The  total  number  of 
persons  who  embarked  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  twenty; 
and  the  whole  charges  of  the  crown  for  the  expedition  did 
not  exceed  seventeen  thousand  florins.  The  fleet  was  in- 
structed to  keep  clear  of  the  African  coast,  and  other  mari- 
time possessions  of  Portugal.  At  length,  all  things  being  in 
readiness,  Columbus  and  his  whole  crew  partook  of  the  sacra- 
ment, and  confessed  themselves,  after  the  devout  manner  of 
the  ancient  Sjpanish  voyagers,  when  engaged  in  any  impor- 
tant enterprise;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  August, 
1492,  the  intrepid  navigator,  bidding  adieu  to  the  old  world, 
launched  forth  on  that  unfathomed  waste  of  waters  where 
no  sail  had  been  ever  spread  before.26 

It  is  impossible  to  peruse  the  storv  of  Columbus  without 
assigning  to  him  almost  exclusively  the  glory  of  his  great 
discovery;  for,  from  the  first  moment  of  its  conception  to 
that  of  its  final  execution,  he  was  encountered  by  every 
species  of  mortification  and  embarrassment,  with  scarcely  a 
heart  to  cheer,  or  a hand  to  help  him.26  Those  more  en- 
lightened persons,  whom,  during  his  long  residence  in  Spain, 
he  succeeded  in  interesting  in  his  expedition,  looked  to  it 
probably  as  the  means  of  solving  a dubious  problem,  with 


35° 


CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


the  same  sort  of  vague  and  skeptical  curiosity  as  to  its  suc- 
cessful result,  with  which  we  contemplate,  in  our  day,  an 
attempt  to  arrive  at  the  Northwest  passage.  How  feeble 
was  the  interest  excited,  even  among  those,  who  from  their 
science  and  situation  would  seem  to  have  their  attention  most 
naturally  drawn  toward  it,  may  be  inferred  from  the  infre- 
quency of  allusion  to  it  in  the  correspondence  and  other 
writings  of  that  time,  previous  to  the  actual  discovery.  Peter 
Martyr,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars  of  the  period, 
whose  residence  at  the  Castilian  court  must  have  fully  in- 
structed him  in  the  designs  of  Columbus,  and  whose  inquisi- 
tive mind  led  him  subsequently  to  take  the  deepest  interest 
in  the  results  of  his  discoveries,  does  not,  so  far  as  I am 
aware,  allude  to  him  in  any  part  of  his  voluminous  corre- 
spondence with  the  learned  men  of  his  time,  previous  to  the 
first  expedition.  The  common  people  regarded,  not  merely 
with  apathy,  but  with  terror,  the  prospect  of  a voyage,  that 
was  to  take  the  mariner  from  the  safe  and  pleasant  seas  which 
he  was  accustomed  to  navigate,  and  send  him  roving  on  the 
boundless  wilderness  of  waters,  which  tradition  and  super- 
stitious fancy  had  peopled  with  innumerable  forms  of  horror. 

It  is  true  that  Columbus  experienced  a most  honorable' 
reception  at  the  Castilian  court;  such  as  naturally  flowed 
from  the  benevolent  spirit  of  Isabella,  and  her  just  apprecia- 
tion of  his  pure  and  elevated  character.  But  the  queen  was 
too  little  of  a proficient  in  science  to  be  able  to  estimate  the 
merits  of  his  hypothesis;  and,  as  many  of  those,  on  whose 
judgment  she  leaned,  deemed  it  chimerical,  it  is  probable 
that  she  never  entertained  a deep  conviction  of  its  truth;  at 
least  not  enough  to  warrant  the  liberal  expenditure,  which 
she  never  refused  to  schemes  of  real  importance.  This  is 
certainly  inferred  by  the  paltry  amount  actually  expended 
on  the  armament,  far  inferior  to  that  appropriated  to  the 
equipment  of  two  several  fleets  in  the  course  of  the  late  war 
for  a foreign  expedition,  as  well  as  to  that,  with  which  in  the 
ensuing  year  she  followed  up  Columbus’s  discoveries. 

But  while,  on  a review  of  the  circumstances,  we  are  led 
more  and  more  to  admire  the  constancy  and  unconquerable 
spirit,  which  carried  Columbus  victorious  through  all  the 
difficulties  of  his  undertaking,  we  must  remember,  in  justice 
to  Isabella,  that,  although  tardily,  she  did  in  fact  furnish  the 
resources  essential  to  its  execution;  that  she  undertook  the 
enterprise  when  it  had  been  explicitly  declined  by  other 
powers,  and  when  probably  none  other  of  that  age  would  have 
been  found  to  countenance  it;  and  that,  after  once  plighting 


HIS  APPLICATION  AT  THE  COURT. 


35  T 


her  faith  to  Columbus,  she  became  his  steady  friend,  shield- 
ing him  against  the  calumnies  of  his  enemies,  reposing  in 
him  the  most  generous  confidence,  and  serving  him  in  the 
most  acceptable  manner,  by  supplying  ample  resources  for 
the  prosecution  of  his  glorious  discoveries.27 


It  is  now  more  than  thirty  years  since  the  Spanish  government  intrusted 
Don  Martin  Fernandez  de  Navarrete,  one  of  the  most  eminent  scholars 
of  the  country,  with  the  care  of  exploring  the  public  archives,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  collecting  information  relative  to  the  voyages  and  discoveries  of  the 
early  Spanish  navigators.  In  1825  Senor  Navarrete  gave  to  the  world  the 
first  fruits  of  his  indefatigable  researches,  in  two  volumes,  the  commence- 
ment of  a series,  comprehending  letters,  private  journals,  royal  ordinances, 
and  other  original  documents,  illustrative  of  the  discovery  of  America. 
These  two  volumes  are  devoted  exclusively  to  the  adventures  and  personal 
history  of  Columbus,  and  must  be  regarded  as  the  only  authentic  basis,  on 
which  any  notice  of  the  great  navigator  can  hereafter  rest.  Fortunately, 
Mr.  Irving’s  visit  to  Spain,  at  this  period,  enabled  the  world  to  derive  the 
full  benefit  of  Senor  Navarrete’s  researches,  by  presenting  their  results  in 
connection  with  whatever  had  been  before  known  of  Columbus,  in  the  lucid 
and  attractive  form,  which  engages  the  interest  of  every  reader.  It  would 
seem  highly  proper,  that  the  fortunes  of  the  discoverer  of  America  should 
engage  the  pen  of  an  inhabitant  of  her  most  favored  and  enlightened  region; 
and  it  is  unnecessary  to  add,  that  the  task  has  been  executed  in  a manner 
which  must  secure  to  the  historian  a share  in  the  imperishable  renown  of 
his  subject.  The  adventures  of  Columbus,  which  form  so  splendid  an 
episode  to  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  cannot  properly  come 
within  the  scope  of  its  historian,  except  so  far  as  relates  to  his  personal 
intercourse  with  the  government,  or  to  their  results  on  the  fortunes  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS  FROM  SPAIN. 

1492- 

Excitement  against  nie  Jews. — Edict  of  Expulsion. — Dreadful  Sufferings 
of  the  Emigrants. — Whole  number  of  Exiles. — Disastrous  Results. — 
True  Motives  of  the  Edict. — Contemporary  Judgments. 

While  the  Spanish  sovereigns  were  detained  before  Granada, 
they  published  their  memorable  and  most  disastrous  edict 
against  the  Jews;  inscribing  it,  as  it  were,  with  the  same 
pen  which  drew  up  the  glorious  capitulation  of  Granada  and 
the  treaty  with  Columbus.  The  reader  has  been  made  ac- 
quainted in  a preceding  chapter  with  the  prosperous  condi- 
tion of  the  Jews  in  the  Peninsula,  and  the  preeminent  con- 
sideration, which  they  attained  there  beyond  any  other  part 
of  Christendom.  The  envy  raised  by  their  prosperity,  com- 
bined with  the  high  religious  excitement  kindled  in  the  long 
war  with  the  infidel,  directed  the  terrible  arm  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, as  has  been  already  stated,  against  this  unfortunate 
people;  but  the  result  showed  the  failure  of  the  experiment, 
since  comparatively  few  conversions,  and  those  frequently 
of  a suspicious  character,  were  effected,  while  the  great  mass 
still  maintained  a pertinacious  attachment  to  ancient  errors.1 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  popular  odium,  inflamed 
by  the  discontent  of  the  clergy  at  the  resistance  which  they 
encountered  in  the  work  of  proselytism,  gradually  grew 
stronger  and  stronger  against  the  unhappy  Israelites.  Old 
traditions,  as  old  indeed  as  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries,  were  revived,  and  charged  on  the  present  genera- 
tion, with  all  the  details  of  place  and  action.  Christian  child- 
ren were  said  to  be  kidnapped,  in  order  to  be  crucified  in 
derision  of  the  Saviour;  the  host,  it  was  rumored,  was  exposed 
to  the  grossest  indignities;  and  physicians  and  apothecaries, 
whose  science  was  particularly  cultivated  by  the  Jews  in  the 
middle  ages,  were  accused  of  poisoning  their  Christian 
patients.  No  rumor  was  too  absurd  for  the  easy  credulity  of 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


353 


the  people.  The  Israelites  were  charged  with  the  more 
probable  offence  of  attempting  to  convert  to  their  own  faith 
the  ancient  Christians , as  well  as  to  reclaim  such  of  their  own 
race  as  had  recently  embraced  Christianity.  A great  scan- 
dal was  occasioned  also  by  the  intermarriages,  which  still 
occasionally  took  place  between  Jews  and  Christians;  the 
latter  condescending  to  repair  their  dilapidated  fortunes  by 
these  wealthy  alliances,  though  at  the  expense  of  their 
vaunted  purity  of  blood.2 

These  various  offences  were  urged  against  the  Jews  with 
great  pertinacity  by  their  enemies,  and  the  sovereigns  were 
importuned  to  adopt  a more  rigorous  policy.  The  inquisi- 
tors, in  particular,  to  whom  the  work  of  conversion  had  been 
specially  intrusted,  represented  the  incompetence  of  all  leni- 
ent measures  to  the  end  proposed.  They  asserted,  that  the 
only  mode  left  for  the  extirpation  of  the  Jewish  heresy,  was 
to  eradicate  the  seed;  and  they  boldly  demanded  the  imme- 
diate and  total  banishment  of  every  unbaptized  Israelite  from 
the  land.3 

The  Jews,  who  had  obtained  an  intimation  of  these  pro- 
ceedings, resorted  to  their  usual  crafty  policy  for  propitiating 
the  sovereigns.  They  commissioned  one  of  their  body  to 
tender  a donative  of  thirty  thousand  ducats  toward  defraying 
the  expenses  of  the  Moorish  war.  The  negotiation  however 
was  suddenly  interrupted  by  the  inquisitor  general,  Torque- 
mada,  who  burst  into  the  apartment  of  the  palace,  where  the 
sovereigns  were  giving  audience  to  the  Jewish  deputy,  and, 
drawing  forth  a crucifix  from  beneath  his  mantle,  held  it  up, 
exclaiming,  “Judas  Iscariot  sold  his  master  for  thirty  pieces 
of  silver.  Your  Highnesses  would  sell  him  anew  for  thirty 
thousand;  here  he  is,  take  him,  and  barter  him  away.”  So 
saying,  the  frantic  priest  threw  the  crucifix  on  the  table,  and 
left  the  apartment.  The  sovereigns,  instead  of  chastising 
this  presumption,  or  despising  it  as  a mere  freak  of  insanity, 
were  overawed  by  it.  Neither  Ferdinand  nor  Isabella,  had 
they  been  left  to  the  unbiassed  dictates  of  their  own  reason, 
could  have  sanctioned  for  a moment  so  impolitic  a measure, 
which  involved  the  loss  of  the  most  industrious  and  skilful 
portion  of  their  subjects.  Its  extreme  injustice  and  cruelty 
rendered  it  especially  repugnant  to  the  naturally  humane  dis- 
position of  the  queen.4  But  she  had  been  early  schooled  to 
distrust  her  own  reason,  and  indeed  the  natural  suggestions 
of  humanity,  in  cases  of  conscience.  Among  the  reverend 
counsellors,  on  whom  she  most  relied  in  these  matters,  was 
the  Dominican  Torquemada.  The  situation  which  this  man 


354 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


enjoyed  as  the  queen’s  confessor,  during  the  tender  years  of 
her  youth,  gave  him  an  ascendency  over  her  mind,  which  must 
have  been  denied  to  a person  of  his  savage,  fanatical  temper, 
even  with  the  advantages  of  this  spiritual  connection,  had  it 
been  formed  at  a riper  period  of  her  life.  Without  opposing 
further  resistance  to  the  representations,  so  emphatically  ex- 
pressed, of  the  holy  persons  in  whom  she  most  confided,  Isa- 
bella, at  length,  silenced  her  own  scruples,  and  consented  to 
the  fatal  measure  of  proscription. 

The  edict  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  was  signed  by 
the  Spanish  sovereigns  at  Granada,  March  30th,  1492.  The 
preamble  alleges,  in  vindication  of  the  measure,  the  danger 
of  allowing  further  intercourse  between  the  Jews  and  their 
Christian  subjects,  in  consequence  of  the  incorrigible  obsti- 
nacy, with  which  the  former  persisted  in  their  attempts  to 
make  converts  of  the  latter  to  their  own  faith,  and  to  instruct 
them  in  their  heretical  rites,  in  open  defiance  of  every  legal 
prohibition  and  penalty.  When  a college  or  corporation  of 
any  kind, — the  instrument  goes  on  to- state, — is  convicted 
of  any  great  or  detestable  crime,  it  is  right  that  it  should  be 
disfranchised,  the  less  suffering  with  the  greater,  the  innocent 
with  the  guilty.  If  this  be  the  case  in  temporal  concerns,  it 
is  much  more  so  in  those,  which  affect  the  eternal  welfare  of 
the  soul.  It  finally  decrees,  that  all  unbaptized  Jews,  of 
whatever  sex,  age,  or  condition,  should  depart  from  the  realm 
by  the  end  of  July  next  ensuing;  prohibiting  them  from  re- 
visiting it,  on  any  pretext  whatever,  under  penalty  of  death 
and  confiscation  of  property.  It  was,  moreover,  interdicted 
to  every  subject,  to  harbor,  succor,  or  minister  to  the  neces- 
sities of  any  Jew,  after  the  expiration  of  the  term  limited  for 
his  departure.  The  persons  and  property  of  the  Jews,  in  the 
meantime,  were  taken  under  the  royal  protection  They 
were  allowed  to  dispose  of  their  effects  of  every  kind  on  their 
own  account,  and  to  carry  the  proceeds  along  with  them,  in 
bills  of  exchange,  or  merchandise  not  prohibited,  but  neither 
in  gold  no  silver.5 

The  doom  of  exile  fell  like  a thunderbolt  on  the  heads  of  the 
Israelites.  A large  proportion  of  them  had  hitherto  suc- 
ceeded in  yielding  themselves  from  the  searching  eye  of  the 
Inquisition,  by  an  affectation  of  reverence  for  the  forms  of 
Catholic  worship,  and  a discreet  forbearance  of  whatever 
might  offend  the  prejudices  of  their  Christian  brethren.  They 
had  even  hoped,  that  their  steady  loyalty,  and  a quiet  and 
orderly  discharge  of  their  social  duties,  would  in  time  secure 
them  higher  immunities.  Many  had  risen  to  a degree  of 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


355 


opulence,  by  means  of  the  thrift  and  dexterity  peculiar  to 
the  race,  which  gave  them  a still  deeper  interest  in  the  land 
of  their  residence.6  Their  families  were  reared  in  all  the 
elegant  refinements  of  life;  and  their  wealth  and  education 
often  disposed  them  to  turn  their  attention  to  liberal  pursuits, 
which  ennobled  the  character,  indeed,  but  rendered  them 
personally  more  sensible  to  physical  annoyance,  and  less  fitted 
to  encounter  the  perils  and  privations  of  their  dreary  pil- 
grimage. Even  the  mass  of  the  common  people,  possessed  a 
dexerity  in  various  handicrafts,  which  afforded  a comfortable 
livelihood,  raising  them  far  above  similar  classes  in  most 
other  nations,  who  might  readily  be  detached  from  the  soil 
on  which  they  happened  to  be  cast,  with  comparatively  little 
sacrifice  of  local  interests.7  These  ties  were  now  severed  at 
a blow.  They  were  to  go  forth  as  exiles  from  the  land  of 
their  birth;  the  land  where  all,  whom  they  ever  loved,  had 
lived  or  died;  the  land,  not  so  much  of  their  adoption,  as  of 
inheritance;  which  had  been  the  home  of  their  ancestors  for 
centuries,  and  with  whose  prosperity  and  glory  they  were  of 
course  as  intimately  associated  as  was  any  ancient  Spaniard. 
They  were  to  be  cast  out  helpless  and  defenceless,  with  a 
brand  of  infamy  set  on  them,  among  nations  who  had  always 
held  them  in  derision  and  hatred. 

Those  provisions  of  the  edict,  which  affected  a show  of 
kindness  to  the  Jews,  were  contrived  so  artfully,  as  to  be 
nearly  nugatory.  As  they  were  excluded  from  the  use  of  gold 
and  silver,  the  only  medium  for  representing  their  property 
was  bills  of  exchange.  But  commerce  was  too  limited  and 
imperfect  to  allow  of  these  being  promptly  obtained  to  any 
very  considerable,  much  less  to  the  enormous  amount  re- 
quired in  the  present  instance.  It  was  impossible,  moreover, 
to  negotiate  a sale  of  their  effects  under  existing  circum- 
stances, since  the  market  was  soon  glutted  with  commodities; 
and  few  would  be  found  wiliing  to  give  anything  like  an 
equivalent  for  what,  if  not  disposed  of  within  the  prescribed 
term,  the  proprietors  must  relinquish  at  any  rate.  So  de- 
plorable, indeed,  was  the  sacrifice  of  property,  that  a chroni- 
cler of  the  day  mentions,  that  he  had  seen  a house  exchanged 
for  an  ass,  and  a vineyard  for  a suit  of  clothes!  In  Aragon, 
matters  were  still  worse.  The  government  there  discovered, 
that  the  Jews  were  largely  indebted  to  individuals  and  to 
certain  corporations.  It  accordingly  caused  their  property 
to  be  sequestrated  for  the  benefit  of  their  creditors,  until  their 
debts  should  be  liquidated.  Strange  indeed,  that  the  balance 
should  be  found  against  a people,  who  have  been  everywhere 


356 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


conspicuous  for  their  commercial  sagacity  and  resources,  and 
who,  as  factors  of  the  great  nobility  and  farmers  of  the  rev- 
enue, enjoyed  at  least  equal  advantages  in  Spain  with  those 
possessed  in  other  countries,  for  the  accumulation  of  wealth. 

While  the  gloomy  aspect  of  their  fortunes  pressed  heavily 
on  the  hearts  of  the  Israelites,  the  Spanish  clergy  were  inde- 
fatigable in  the  work  of  conversion.  They  lectured  in  the 
synagogues  and  public  squares,  expounding  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  and  thundering  forth  both  argument  and  invec- 
tive against  the  Hebrew  heresy.  But  their  laudable  endeavors 
were  in  a great  measure  counteracted  by  the  more  authorita- 
tive rhetoric  of  the  Jewish  Rabbins,  who  compared  the  perse- 
cutions of  their  brethren,  to  those  which  their  ancestors  had 
suffered  under  Pharaoh.  They  encouraged  them  to  persevere, 
representing  that  the  present  afflictions  were  intended  as  a 
trial  of  their  faith  by  the  Almighty,  who  designed  in  this  way 
to  guide  them  to  the  promised  land,  by  opening  a path  through 
the  waters,  as  he  had  done  to  their  fathers  of  old.  The  more 
wealthy  Israelites  enforced  their  exhortations  by  liberal  con- 
tributions for  the  releif  of  their  indigent  brethren.  Thus 
strengthened,  there  were  found  but  very  few,  when  the  day 
of  departure  arrived,  who  were  not  prepared  to  abandon  their 
country  rather  than  their  religion.  This  extraordinary  act 
of  self-devotion  by  a whole  people  for  conscience’  sake  may 
be  thought,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  to  merit  other  epithets 
than  those  of  “perfidy,  incredulity,  and  stiff-necked  obsti- 
nacy,” with  which  the  worthy  Curate  of  Los  Palacios,  in  the 
charitable  feeling  of  that  day,  has  seen  fit  to  stigmatize  it.9 

When  the  period  of  departure  arrived,  all  the  principal 
routes  through  the  country  might  be  seen  swarming  with 
emigrants,  old  and  young,  the  sick  and  the  helpless,  men, 
women,  and  children,  mingled  promiscuously  together,  some 
mounted  on  horses  or  mules,  but  far  the  greater  part  under- 
taking their  painful  pilgrimage  on  foot.  The  sight  of  so  much 
misery  touched  even  the  Spaniards  with  pity,  though  none 
might  succor  them;  for  the  land  inquisitor,  Torquemada,  en- 
forced the  ordinance  to  that  effect,  by  denouncing  heavy 
ecclesiastical  censures  on  all  who  should  presume  to  violate 
it.  The  fugitives  were  distributed  along  various  routes,  being 
determined  in  their  destination  by  accidental  circumstances, 
much  more  than  any  knowledge  of  the  respective  countries 
to  which  they  were  bound.  Much  the  largest  division, 
amounting  according  to  some  estimates  to  eighty  thousand 
souls,  passed  into  Portugal;  whose  monarch,  John  the  Sec- 
ond, dispensed  with  his  scruples  of  conscience  so  far,  as  to 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


357 


give  them  a free  passage  through  his  dominions  on  their  way 
to  Africa,  in  consideration  of  a tax  of  a cruzado  a head.  He 
is  even  said  to  have  silenced  his  scruples  so  far,  as  to  allow 
certain  ingenious  artisans  to  establish  themselves  permanently 
in  the  kingdom.10 

A considerable  number  found  their  way  to  the  ports  of 
Santa  Maria  and  Cadiz,  where,  after  lingering  some  time  in 
the  vain  hope  of  seeing  the  waters  open  for  their  egress,  ac- 
cording to  the  promises  of  the  Rabbins,  they  embarked  on 
board  a Spanish  fleet  for  the  Barbary  coast.  Having  crossed 
over  to  Ercilla,  a Christian  settlement  in  Africa,  whence  they 
proceeded  by  land  toward  Fez,  where  a considerable  body  of 
their  countrymen  resided,  they  were  assaulted  on  their  route 
by  the  roving  tribes  of  the  desert,  in  quest  of  plunder.  Not- 
withstanding the  interdict,  the  Jews  had  contrived  to  secrete 
small  sums  of  money,  sewed  up  in  their  garments  or  the  lin- 
ings of  their  saddles.  These  did  not  escape  the  avaricious 
eyes  of  their  spoilers,  who  are  even  said  to  have  ripped  open 
the  bodies  of  their  victims,  in  search  of  gold,  which  they  were 
supposed  to  have  swallowed.  The  lawless  barbarians,  ming- 
ling lust  with  avarice,  abandoned  themselves  to  still  more 
frightful  excesses,  violating  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
unresisting  Jews,  or  massacreing  in  cold  blood  such  as  offered 
resistance.  But  without  pursuing  these  loathsome  details 
further,  it  need  only  be  added,  that  the  miserable  exiles  en- 
dured such  extremity  of  famine,  that  they  were  glad  to  force 
a nourishment  from  the  grass  which  grew  scantily  among  the 
sands  of  the  desert;  until  at  length  great  numbers  of  them, 
wasted  by  disease,  and  broken  in  spirit,  retraced  their  steps 
to  Ercilla,  and  consented  to  be  baptized,  in  the  hope  of  being 
permitted  to  revisit  their  native  land.  The  number,  indeed, 
was  so  considerable,  that  the  priest  who  officiated  was  obliged 
to  make  use  of  the  mop,  or  hyssop,  with  which  the,  Roman 
catholic  missionaries  were  wont  to  scatter  the  holy  drops, 
whose  mystic  virtue  could  cleanse  the  soul  in  a moment  from 
the  foulest  stains  of  infidelity.  “Thus,”  says  a Castilian  his- 
torian, “the  calamities  of  these  poor  blind  creatures  proved 
in  the  end  an  excellent  remedy,  that  God  made  use  of  to  un- 
seal their  eyes,  which  they  now  opened  to  the  vain  promises 
of  the  Rabbins;  so  that,  renouncing  their  ancient  heresies, 
they  became  faithful  followers  of  the  Cross!”  11 

Many  of  the  emigrants  took  the  direction  of  Italy.  Those 
who  landed  at  Naples  brought  with  them  an  infectious  dis- 
order, contracted  by  long  confinement  in  small,  crowded,  and 
ill-provided  vessels.  The  disorder  was  so  malignant,  and 


353 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


spread  with  such  frightful  celerity,  as  to  sweep  off  more  than 
twenty  thousand  inhabitants  of  the  city,  in  the  course  of 
the  year,  whence  it  extended  its  devastation  over  the  whole 
Italian  peninsula. 

A graphic  picture  of  these  horrors  is  thus  given  by  a Geno- 
ese historian,  an  eye  witness  of  the  scenes  he  describes.  “No 
one,”  he  says,  “could  behold  the  sufferings  of  the  Jewish 
exiles  unmoved.  A great  many  perished  of  hunger,  especially 
those  of  tender  years.  Mothers,  with  scarcely  strength  to 
support  themselves,  carried  their  famished  infants  in  their 
arms,  and  died  with  them.  Many  fell  victims  to  the  cold, 
others  to  intense  thirst,  while  the  unaccustomed  distresses 
incident  to  a sea  voyage  aggravated  their  maladies.  I will 
not  enlarge  on  the  cruelty  and  the  avarice  which  they  fre- 
quently experienced  from  the  masters  of  the  ships,  which 
transported  them  from  Spain.  Some  were  murdered  to  gra- 
tify their  cupidity,  others  forced  to  sell  their  children  for  the 
expenses  of  the  passage.  They  arrived  in  Genoa  in  crowds, 
but  were  not  suffered  to  tarry  there  long,  by  reason  of  the 
ancient  law  which  interdicted  the  Jewish  traveller  from  a 
longer  residence  than  three  days.  They  were  allowed,  how- 
ever, to  refit  their  vessels,  and  to  recruit  themselves  for  some 
days  from  the  fatigues  of  their  voyage.  One  might  have 
taken  them  for  spectres,  so  emaciated  were  they,  so  cadav- 
erous in  their  aspect,  and  with  eyes  so  sunken;  they  differed 
in  nothing  from  the  dead,  except  in  the  power  of  motion, 
which  indeed  they  scarcely  retained.  Many  fainted  and  ex- 
pired on  the  mole,  which  being  completely  surrounded  by  the 
sea,  was  the  only  quarter  vouchsafed  to  the  wretched  emi- 
grants. The  infection  bred  by  such  a swarm  of  dead  and 
dving  persons  was  not  at  once  perceived;  but,  when  the 
winter  broke  up,  ulcers  began  to  make  their  appearance,  and 
the  malady,  which  lurked  for  a long  time  in  the  city,  broke 
out  into  the  plague  in  the  following  year.”  12 

Many  of  the  exiles  passed  into  Turkey,  where  their  descend- 
ants continued  to  speak  the  Castilian  language  far  into  the 
following  century.  Others  found  their  way  to  France,  and 
even  England.  Part  of  their  religious  services  is  recited  to 
this  day  in  Spanish,  in  one  or  more  of  the  London  synagogues; 
and  the  modern  Jew  still  reverts  with  fond  partiality  to  Spain, 
as  the  cherished  land  of  his  fathers,  illustrated  by  the  most 
glorious  recollections  in  their  eventful  history.13 

The  whole  number  of  Jews  expelled  from  Spain  by  Ferdi 
nand  and  Isabella,  is  variously  computed  from  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  to  eight  hundred  thousand  souls;  a dis- 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


359 


crepancy  sufficiently  indicating  the  paucity  of  authentic  data. 
Most  modern  writers,  with  the  usual  predilection  for  startling 
results,  have  assumed  the  latter  estimate;  and  Llorente  has 
made  it  the  basis  of  some  important  calculations,  in  his  His- 
tory of  the  Inquisition.  A view  of  all  the  circumstances  will 
lead  us  without  much  hesitation  to  adopt  the  more  moderate 
computation.14  This,  moreover,  is  placed  beyond  reasonable 
doubt  by  the  direct  testimony  of  the  Curate  of  Los  Palacios. 
He  reports,  that  a Jewish  Rabbin,  one  of  the  exiles,  subse- 
quently returned  to  Spain,  where  he  was  baptized  by  him. 
This  person,  whom  Bernaldez  commends  for  his  intelligence, 
estimated  the  whole  number  of  his  unbaptized  countrymen 
in  the  dominions  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  at  the  publication 
of  the  edict,  at  thirty-six  thousand  families.  Another  Jewish 
authority,  quoted  by  the  Curate,  reckoned  them  at  thirty-five 
thousand.  This,  assuming  an  average  of  four  and  a half  to  a 
family,  gives  the  sum  total  of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
thousand  individuals,  agreeably  to  the  computation  of  Ber- 
naldez. There  is  little  reason  for  supposing,  that  the  actual 
amount  would  suffer  diminution  in  the  hands  of  either  the 
Jewish  or  Castilian  authority;  since  the  one  might  naturally 
be  led  to  exaggerate,  in  order  to  heighten  sympathy  with  the 
calamities  of  his  nation,  and  the  other,  to  magnify  as  far  as 
possible  the  glorious  triumphs  of  the  Cross.15 

The  detriment  incurred  by  the  state,  however, is  not  founded 
so  much  on  any  numerical  estimate,  as  on  the  subtraction  of 
the  mechanical  skill,  intelligence,  and  general  resources  of 
an  orderly,  industrious  population.  In  this  view,  the  mischief 
was  incalculably  greater  than  that  inferred  by  the  mere  num- 
ber of  the  exiled;  and,  although  even  this  might  have  been 
gradually  repaired  in  a country  allowed  the  free  and  healthful 
development  of  its  energies,  yet  in  Spain  this  was  so  effectu- 
ally counteracted  by  the  Inquisition,  and  other  causes  in  the 
following  century,  that  the  loss  may  be  deemed  irretrievable. 

The  expulsion  of  so  numerous  a class  of  subjects  by  an  in- 
dependent act  of  the  sovereign,  might  well  be  regarded  as  an 
enormous  stretch  of  prerogative,  altogether  incompatible  with 
any  thing  like  a free  government.  But  to  judge  the  matter 
rightly,  we  must  take  into  view  the  actual  position  of  the 
Jews  at  that  time.  Far  from  forming  an  integral  part  of  the 
commonwealth,  they  were  regarded  as  alien  to  it,  as  a mere 
excrescence,  which,  so  far  from  contributing  to  the  healthful 
action  of  the  body  politic,  was  nourished  by  its  vicious  humors 
and  might  be  lopped  off  at  any  time,  when  the  health  of  the 
system  demanded  it.  Far  from  being  protected  by  the  laws, 


36° 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


the  only  aim  of  the  laws,  in  reference  to  them,  was  to  define 
more  precisely  their  civil  incapacities,  and  to  draw  the  line 
of  division  more  broadly  between  them  and  the  Christians. 
Even  this  humiliation  by  no  means  satisfied  the  national  preju- 
dices, as  is  evinced  by  the  great  number  of  tumults  and  mas- 
sacres of  which  they  were  the  victims.  In  these  circumstan- 
ces, it  seemed  to  be  no  great  assumption  of  authority,  to  pro- 
nounce sentence  of  exile  against  those,  whom  public  opinion 
had  so  long  proscribed  as  enemies  to  the  state.  It  was  only 
carrying  into  effect  that  opinion,  expressed  as  it  had  been  in 
a great  variety  of  ways;  and,  as  far  as  the  rights  of  the  nation 
were  concerned,  the  banishment  of  a single  Spaniard  would 
have  been  held  a grosser  violation  of  them,  than  that  of  the 
whole  race  of  Israelites. 

It  has  been  common  with  modern  historians  to  detect  a 
principal  motive  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews,  in  the  avarice 
of  the  government.  It  is  only  necessary,  however,  to  trans- 
port ourselves  back  to  those  times,  to  find  it  in  perfect  accord- 
ance with  their  spirit,  at  least  in  Spain.  It  is  indeed  incredi- 
ble, that  persons  possessing  the  political  sagacity  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  could  indulge  a temporary  cupidity,  at  the  sac- 
rifice of  the  most  important  and  permanent  interests,  con- 
verting their  wealthiest  districts  into  a wilderness,  and  dis- 
peopling them  of  a class  of  citizens,  who  contributed  beyond 
all  others,  not  only  to  the  general  resources,  but  the  dircet 
revenues  of  the  crown;  a measure  so  manifestly  unsound, 
as  to  lead  even  a barbarian  monarch  of  that  day  to  exclaim, 
“Do  they  call  this  Ferdinand  a politic  prince,  who  can  thus 
impoverish  his  own  kingdom  and  enrich  ours!”  16  It  would 
seem,  indeed,  when  the  measure  had  been  determined  on, 
that  the  Aragonese  monarch  was  willing,  by  his  expedient  of 
sequestration,  to  control  its  operation  in  such  a manner  as  to 
secure  to  his  own  subjects  the  full  pecuniary  benefit  of  it.17 
No  imputation  of  this  kind  attaches  to  Castile.  The  clause 
of  the  ordinance,  which  might  imply  such  a design,  by  inter- 
dicting the  exportation  of  gold  and  silver,  was  only  enforcing 
a law,  which  had  been  already  twice  enacted  by  cortes  in  the 
present  reign,  and  which  was  deemed  of  such  moment,  that 
the  offence  was  made  capital.18 

We  need  look  no  further  for  the  principle  of  action,  in  this 
case,  than  the  spirit  of  religious  bigotry,  which  led  to  a simi- 
lar expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  England,  France,  and  other 
parts  of  Europe,  as  well  as  from  Portugal,  under  circum- 
stances of  peculiar  atrocity,  a few  years  later.19  Indeed,  the 
spirit  of  persecution  did  not  expire  with  the  fifteenth  century, 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


361 


but  extended  far  into  the  more  luminous  periods  of  the  sev- 
enteenth and  eighteenth;  and  that,  too,  under  a ruler  of  the 
enlarged  capacity  of  Frederic  the  Great,  whose  intolerance 
could  not  plead  in  excuse  the  blindness  of  fanaticism.'20  How 
far  the  banishment  of  the  Jews  was  conformable  to  the  opin- 
ions of  the  most  enlightened  contemporaries,  may  be  gathered 
from  the  encomiums  lavished  on  its  authors  from  more  than 
one  quarter.  Spanish  writers,  without  exception,  celebrate 
it  as  a sublime  sacrifice  of  all  temporal  interests  to  religious 
principle.  The  best  instructed  foreigners,  in  like  manner, 
however  they  may  condemn  the  details  of  its  execution,  or 
commiserate  the  sufferings  of  the  Jews,  commend  the  act,  as 
evincing  the  most  lively  and  laudable  zeal  for  the  true  faith.21 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  Spain  at  this  period  surpassed 
most  of  the  nations  of  Christendom  in  religious  enthusiasm, 
or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  in  bigotry.  This  is  doubtless 
imputable  to  the  long  war  with  the  Moslems,  and  its  recent 
glorious  issue,  which  swelled  every  heart  with  exultation, 
disposing  it  to  consummate  the  triumphs  of  the  Cross,  by 
purging  the  land  from  a heresy,  which,  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  was  scarcely  less  detested  than  that  of  Mahomet.  Both 
the  sovereigns  partook  largely  of  these  feelings.  With  regard 
to  Isabella,  moreover,  it  must  be  borne  constantly  in  mind, 
as  has  been  repeatedly  remarked  in  the  course  of  this  History, 
that  she  had  been  used  to  surrender  her  own  judgment,  in 
matters  of  conscience,  to  those  spiritual  guardians,  who  were 
supposed  in  that  age  to  be  its  rightful  depositaries,  and  the 
only  casuists  who  could  safely  determine  the  doubtful  line 
of  duty.  Isabella’s  pious  disposition,  and  her  trembling  so- 
licitude to  discharge  her  duty,  at  whatever  cost  of  personal 
inclination,  greatly  enforced  the  precepts  of  education.  In 
this  way,  her  very  virtues  became  the  source  of  her  errors. 
Unfortunately,  she  lived  in  an  age  and  station,  which  attached 
to  these  errors  the  most  momentous  consequences.22 — But  we 
gladly  turn  from  these  dark  prospects  to  a brighter  page  of 
her  history. 

Vol.  I.— 16. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


ATTEMPTED  ASSASSINATION  OF  FERDINAND. RETURN  AND 

SECOND  VOYAGE  OF  COLUMBUS. 

1492—1493- 

Attempt  on  Ferdinand’s  Life. — Consternation  and  Loyalty  of  the  People. 
— Return  of  Columbus. — His  Progress  to  Barcelona. — Interviews  with 
the  Sovereigns. — Sensations  caused  by  the  Discovery. — Regulations 
of  Trade. — Conversion  of  the  Natives. — Famous  Bulls  of  Alexander 
VI. — Jealousy  of  Portugal. — Second  Voyage  of  Columbus. — Treaty  of 
Tordesillas. 

Toward  the  latter  end  of  May,  1492,  the  Spanish  sovereigns 
quitted  Granada,  between  which  and  Sante  Fe  they  had  di- 
vided their  time  since  the  surrender  of  the  Moorish  metropo- 
lis. They  were  occupied  during  the  two  following  months 
with  the  affairs  of  Castile.  In  August  they  visited  Aragon, 
proposing  to  establish  their  winter  residence  there  in  order 
to  provide  for  its  internal  administration,  and  conclude  the 
negotiations  for  the  final  surrender  of  Roussillon  and  Cer- 
dagne  by  France,  to  which  these  provinces  had  been  mort- 
gaged by  Ferdinand’s  father,  John  the  Second;  proving  ever 
since  a fruitful  source  of  diplomacy,  which  threatened  more 
than  once  to  terminate  in  open  rupture. 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella  arrived  in  Aragon  on  the  8th  of 
August,  accompanied  by  Prince  John  and  the  infantas,  and  a 
brilliant  train  of  Castilian  nobles.  In  their  progress  through 
the  country  they  were  everywhere  received  with  the  most 
lively  enthusiasm.  The  whole  nation  seemed  to  abandon  it- 
self to  jubilee,  at  the  approach  of  its  illustrious  sovereigns, 
whose  heroic  constancy  had  rescued  Spain  from  the  detested 
empire  of  the  Saracens.  After  devoting  some  months  to  the 
internal  police  of  the  kingdom,  the  court  transferred  its  resi- 
dence to  Catalonia,  whose  capital  it  reached  about  the  middle 
of  October.  During  its  detention  in  this  place,  Ferdinand’s 
career  was  well-nigh  brought  to  an  untimely  close.1 

It  was  a good  old  custom  of  Catalonia,  long  since  fallen 
into  desuetude,  for  the  monarch  to  preside  in  the  tribunals  of 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


363 


justice,  at  least  once  a week,  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
the  suits  of  the  poorer  classes  especially,  who  could  not  afford 
the  more  expensive  forms  of  litigation.  King  Ferdinand,  in 
conformity  with  this  usage,  held  a court  in  the  house  of  depu- 
tation, on  the  7th  of  December,  being  the  vigil  of  the  concep- 
tion of  the  Virgin.  At  noon,  as  he  was  preparing  to  quit  the 
palace,  after  the  conclusion  of  business,  he  lingered  in  the 
rear  of  his  retinue,  conversing  with  some  of  the  officers  of 
the  court.  As  the  party  was  issuing  from  a little  chapel  con- 
tiguous to  the  royal  saloon,  and  just  as  the  king  was  descend- 
ing a flight  of  stairs,  a ruffian  darted  from  an  obscure  recess 
in  which  he  had  concealed  himself  early  in  the  morning,  and 
aimed  a blow  with  a short  sword,  or  knife,  at  the  back  of 
Ferdinand’s  neck.  Fortunately  the  edge  of  the  weapon  was 
turned  by  a gold  chain  or  collar  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
wearing.  It  inflicted,  however,  a deep  wound  between  the 
shoulders.  Ferdinand  instantly  cried  out,  “St.  Mary  pre- 
serve us!  treason,  treason!”  and  his  attendants,  rushing  on 
the  assassin,  stabbed  him  in  three  places  with  their  poinards, 
and  would  have  despatched  him  on  the  spot,  had  not  the 
king,  with  his  usual  presence  of  mind,  commanded  them  to 
desist,  and  take  the  man  alive,  that  they  might  ascertain  the 
real  authors  of  the  conspiracy.  This  was  done  accordingly, 
and  Ferdinand,  fainting  with  loss  of  blood,  was  carefully  re- 
moved to  his  apartments  in  the  royal  palace.2 

The  report  of  the  catastrophe  spread  like  wild-fire  through 
the  city.  All  classes  were  thrown  into  consternation  by  so 
foul  an  act,  which  seemed  to  cast  a stain  on  the  honor  and 
good  faith  of  the  Catalans.  Some  suspected  it  to  be  the 
work  of  a vindictive  Moor,  others  of  a disappointed  courtier. 
The  queen,  who  had  swooned  on  first  receiving  intelligence 
of  the  event,  suspected  the  ancient  enmity  of  the  Catalans, 
who  had  shown  such  determined  opposition  to  her  husband 
in  his  early  youth.  She  gave  instant  orders  to  hold  in  readi- 
ness one  of  the  galleys  lying  in  the  port,  in  order  to  tran- 
sport her  children  from  the  place,  as  she  feared  the  con- 
spiracy might  be  designed  to  embrace  other  victims.3 

The  populace,  in  the  meanwhile,  assembled  in  great  num- 
bers round  the  palace  where  the  king  lay.  All  feelings  of 
hostility  had  long  since  given  way  to  devoted  loyalty  toward 
a government,  which  had  uniformly  respected  the  liberties  of 
its  subjects,  and  whose  paternal  sway  had  secured  similar 
blessings  to  Barcelona  wtih  the  rest  of  the  empire.  They 
thronged  round  the  building,  crying  out  that  the  king  was 
slain,  and  demanding  that  his  murderers  should  be  delivered 


364 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


up  to  them.  Ferdinand,  exhausted  as  he  was,  would  have 
presented  himself  at  the  window  of  his  apartment,  but  was 
prevented  from  making  the  effort  by  his  physicians.  It  was 
with  great  difficulty,  that  the  people  were  at  length  satisfied 
that  he  was  still  living,  and  that  they  finally  consented  to  dis- 
perse, on  the  assurance,  that  the  assassin  should  be  brought 
to  condign  punishment. 

The  king’s  wound,  which  did  not  appear  dangerous  at 
first,  gradually  exhibited  more  alarming  symptoms.  One  of 
the  bones  was  found  to  be  fractured,  and  a part  of  it  was  re- 
moved by  the  surgeons.  On  the  seventh  day  his  situation 
was  considered  extremely  critical.  During  this  time,  the 
queen  was  constantly  by  his  side,  watching  with  him  day  and 
night,  and  administering  all  his  medicines  with  her  own  hand. 
At  length,  the  unfavorable  symptoms  yielded;  and  his  excel- 
lent constitution  enabled  him  so  far  to  recover,  that  in  less 
than  three  weeks  he  was  able  to  show  himself  to  the  eyes  of 
his  anxious  subjects,  who  gave  themselves  up  to  a delirium 
of  joy,  offering  thanksgivings  and  grateful  oblations  in  the 
churches;  while  many  a pilgrimage,  which  had  been  vowed  for 
his  restoration  to  health,  was  performed  by  the  good  people 
of  Barcelona,  with  naked  feet,  and  even  on  their  knees, 
among  the  wild  sierras  that  surround  the  city. 

The  author  of  the  crime  proved  to  be  a peasant,  about  sixty 
years  of  age,  of  that  humble  class,  de  remenza , as  it  was  termed, 
which  Ferdinand  had  been  so  instrumental  some  few  years 
since  in  releasing  from  the  baser  and  more  grinding  pains 
of  servitude.  The  man  appeared  to  be  insane;  alleging  in  vin- 
dication of  his  conduct,  that  he  was  the  rightful  proprietor  of 
the  crown,  which  he  expected  to  obtain  by  Fedinand’s  death. 
He  declared  himself  willing,  however,  to  give  up  his  preten- 
sions, on  condition  of  being  set  at  liberty.  The  king,  con- 
vinced of  his  alienation  of  mind,  would  have  discharged  him; 
but  the  Catalans,  indignant  at  the  reproach  which  such  a 
crime  seemed  to  attach  to  their  own  honor,  and  perhaps 
distrusting  the  plea  of  insanity,  thought  it  necessary  to  ex- 
piate it  by  the  blood  of  the  offender,  and  condemned  the 
unhappy  wretch  to  the  dreadful  doom  of  a traitor;  the  pre- 
liminary barbarities  of  the  sentence,  however,  were  remitted, 
at  the  intercession  of  the  queen.4 

In  the  spring  of  1493,  while  the  court  was  still  at  Barcelo- 
na, letters  were  received  from  Christopher  Columbus,  an- 
nouncing his  return  to  Spain,  and  the  successful  achievement 
of  his  great  enterprise,  by  the  discovery  of  land  beyond  the 
western  ocean.  The  delight  and  astonishment,  raised  by 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


3^5 


this  intelligence,  were  proportioned  to  the  skepticism,  with 
which  his  project  had  been  originally  viewed.  The  sover- 
eigns were  now  filled  with  a natural  impatience  to  ascertain 
the  extent  and  other  particulars  of  the  important  discovery; 
and  they  transmitted  instant  instructions  to  the  admiral  to 
repair  to  Barcelona,  as  soon  as  he  should  have  made  the  pre- 
liminary arrangements  for  the  further  prosecution  of  his  en- 
terprise.5 

The  great  navigator  had  succeeded,  as  is  well  known,  after 
a voyage  the  natural  difficulties  of  which  had  been  much  aug- 
mented by  the  distrust  and  mutinous  spirit  of  his  followers, 
in  descrying  land  on  Friday,  the  12th  of  October,  1492. 
After  some  months  spent  in  exploring  the  delightful  regions, 
now  for  the  first  time  thrown  open  to  the  eyes  of  a European, 
he  embarked  in  the  month  of  January,  1493,  for  Spain.  One 
of  his  vessels  had  previously  foundered,  and  another  had 
deserted  him;  so  that  he  was  left  alone  to  retrace  his  course 
across  the  Atlantic.  After  a most  tempestuous  voyage,  he 
was  compelled  to  take  shelter  in  the  Tagus,  sorely  against 
his  inclination.6  He  experienced,  however,  the  most  honor- 
able reception  from  the  Portuguese  monarch,  John  the  Second, 
who  did  ample  justice  to  the  great  qualities  of  Columbus, 
although  he  had  failed  to  profit  by  them.7  After  a brief  delay, 
the  admiral  resumed  his  voyage,  and  crossing  the  bar  of 
Saltes  entered  the  harbor  of  Palos  about  noon  on  the  15th  of 
March,  1493,  being  exactly  seven  months  and  eleven  days 
since  his  departure  from  that  port.8 

Great  was  the  agitation  in  the  little  community  of  Palos, 
as  they  beheld  the  well-known  vessel  of  the  admiral  reenter- 
ing their  harbor.  Their  desponding  imaginations  had  long 
since  consigned  him  to  a watery  grave;  for,  in  addition  to 
the  preternatural  horrors  which  hung  over  the  voyage,  they 
had  experienced  the  most  stormy  and  disastrous  winter  within 
the  recollection  of  the  oldest  mariners.9  Most  of  them  had 
relatives  or  friends  on  board.  They  thronged  immediately 
to  the  shore,  to  assure  themselves  with  their  own  eyes  of  the 
truth  of  their  return.  When  they  beheld  their  faces  once 
more,  and  saw  them  accompanied  by  the  numerous  evidences 
which  they  brought  back  of  the  success  of  the  expedition, 
they  burst  forth  in  acclamations  of  joy  and  gratulation.  They 
awaited  the  landing  of  Columbus,  when  the  whole  population 
of  the  place  accompanied  him  and  his  crew  to  the  principal 
church,  where  solemn  thanksgivings  were  offered  up  for  their 
return;  while  every  bell  in  the  village  sent  forth  a joyous 
peal  in  honor  of  the  glorious  event.  The  admiral  was  too 


366 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


desirous  of  presenting  himself  before  the  sovereigns,  to  pro- 
tract his  stay  long  at  Palos.  He  took  with  him  on  his  journey 
specimens  of  the  multifarious  products  of  the  newly  dis- 
covered regions.  He  was  accompanied  by  several  of  the 
native  islanders,  arrayed  in  their  simple  barbaric  costume, 
and  decorated,  as  he  passed  through  the  principal  cities,  with 
collars,  bracelets,  and  other  ornaments  of  gold,  rudely  fash- 
ioned; he  exhibited  also  considerable  quantities  of  the  same 
metal  in  dust,  or  in  crude  masses,10  numerous  vegetable  ex- 
otics, possessed  of  aromatic  or  medicinal  virtue,  and  several 
kinds  of  quadrupeds  unknown  in  Europe,  and  birds,  whose 
varieties  of  gaudy  plumage  gave  a brilliant  effect  to  the  page- 
ant. The  admiral’s  progress  through  the  country  was  every- 
where impeded  by  the  multitudes  thronging  forth  to  gaze  at 
the  extraordinary  spectacle,  and  the  more  extraordinary  man, 
who,  in  the  emphatic  language  of  that  time,  which  has  now 
lost  its  force  from  its  familiarity,  first  revealed  the  existence 
of  a “New  World.”  As  he  passed  through  the  busy,  popu- 
lous city  of  Seville,  every  window,  balcony,  and  housetop, 
which  could  afford  a glimpse  of  him,  is  described  to  have 
been  crowded  with  spectators.  It  was  the  middle  of  April 
before  Columbus  reached  Barcelona.  The  nobility  and  cava- 
liers in  attendance  on  the  court,  together  with  the  authorities 
of  the  city,  came  to  the  gates  to  receive  him,  and  escorted 
him  to  the  royal  presence.  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were 
seated,  with  their  son,  Prince  John,  under  a superb  canopy 
of  state,  awaiting  his  arrival.  On  his  approach,  they  rose 
from  their  seats,  and  extending  their  hands  to  him  to  salute, 
caused  him  to  be  seated  before  them.  These  were  unpre- 
cedented marks  of  condescension  to  a person  of  Columbus’s 
rank,  in  the  haughty  and  ceremonious  court  of  Castile.  It 
was,  indeed,  the  proudest  moment  in  the  life  of  Columbus. 
He  had  fully  established  the  truth  of  his  long-contested 
theory,  in  the  face  of  argument,  sophistry,  sneer,  skepticism, 
and  contempt.  He  had  achieved  this,  not  by  chance,  but  by 
calculation,  supported  through  the  most  adverse  circum- 
stances by  consummate  conduct.  The  honors  paid  him, 
which  had  hitherto  been  reserved  only  for  rank,  or  fortune, 
or  military  success,  purchased  by  the  blood  and  tears  of 
thousands,  were,  in  his  case,  a homage  to  intellectual  power, 
successfully  exerted  in  behalf  of  the  noblest  interests  of  hu- 
manity.11 

After  a brief  interval,  the  sovereigns  requested  from  Colum- 
bus a recital  of  his  adventures  His  manner  was  sedate  and 
dignified,  but  warmed  by  the  glow  of  natural  enthusiasm, 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


367 


He  enumerated  the  several  islands  which  he  had  visited, 
expatiated  on  the  temperate  character  of  the  climate,  and  the 
capacity  of  the  soil  for  every  variety  of  agricultural  produc- 
tion, appealing  to  the  samples  imported  by  him,  as  evidence 
of  their  natural  fruitfulness.  He  dwelt  more  at  large  on  the 
precious  metals  to  be  found  in  these  islands,  which  he  inferred, 
less  from  the  specimens  actually  obtained,  than  from  the  uni- 
form testimony  of  the  natives  to  their  abundance  in  the 
unexplored  regions  of  the  interior.  Lastly,  he  pointed  out 
the  wide  scope  afforded  to  Christian  zeal,  in  the  illumination 
of  a race  of  men,  whose  minds,  far  from  being  wedded  to 
any  system  of  idolatry,  were  prepared  by  their  extreme  sim- 
plicity for  the  reception  of  pure  and  uncorrupted  doctrine. 
The  last  consideration  touched  Isabella’s  heart  most  sensibly; 
and  the  whole  audience,  kindled  with  various  emotions  by 
the  speaker's  eloquence,  filled  up  the  perspective  with  the 
gorgeous  coloring  of  their  own  fancies,  as  ambition,  or  ava- 
rice, or  devotional  feeling  predominated  in  their  bosoms. 
When  Columbus  ceased,  the  king  and  queen,  together  with 
all  present,  prostrated  themselves  on  their  knees  in  grateful 
thanksgivings,  while  the  solemn  strains  of  the  Te  Deum  were 
poured  forth  by  the  choir  of  the  royal  chapel,  as  in  com- 
memoration of  some  glorious  victory.12 

The  discoveries  of  Columbus  excited  a sensation,  particu- 
larly among  men  of  science,  in  the  most  distant  parts  of  Eu- 
rope, strongly  contrasting  with  the  apathy  which  had  preceded 
them.  They  congratulated  one  another  on  being  reserved 
for  an  age,  which  had  witnessed  the  consummation  of  so 
grand  an  event.  The  learned  Martyr,  who,  in  his  multifari- 
ous correspondence,  had  not  even  deigned  to  notice  the  pre- 
parations for  the  voyage  of  discovery,  now  lavished  the  most 
unbounded  panegyric  on  its  results;  which  he  contemplated 
with  the  eye  of  a philosopher,  having  far  less  reference  to 
considerations  of  profit  or  policy,  than  to  the  prospect  which 
they  unfolded  of  enlarging  the  boundaries  of  knowledge.13 
Most  of  the  scholars  of  the  day,  however,  adopted  the  erro- 
neous hypothesis  of  Columbus,  who  considered  the  lands  he 
had  discovered,  as  bordering  on  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia, 
and  lying  adjacent  to  the  vast  and  opulent  regions  depicted 
in  such  golden  colors  by  Mandeville  and  the  Poli.  This 
conjecture,  which  was  conformable  to  the  admiral’s  opinions 
before  undertaking  the  voyage,  was  corroborated  by  the 
apparent  similarity  between  various  natural  productions  of 
these  islands,  and  of  the  east.  From  this  misapprehension, 
the  new  dominions  soon  came  to  be  distinguished  as  the  West 


368 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


Indies,  an  appellation  by  which  they  are  still  recognized  in 
the  titles  of  the  Spanish  crown.14 

Columbus,  during  his  residence  at  Barcelona,  continued  to 
receive  from  the  Spanish  sovereigns  the  most  honorable  dis- 
tinctions which  royal  bounty  could  confer.  When  Ferdinand 
rode  abroad,  he  was  accompanied  by  the  admiral  at  his  side. 
The  courtiers,  in  emulation  of  their  master,  made  frequent 
entertainments,  at  which  he  was  treated  with  the  punctilious 
deference  paid  to  a noble  of  the  highest  class.15  But  the  atten- 
tions most  grateful  to  his  lofty  spirit  were  the  preparations  of 
the  Spanish  court  for  prosecuting  his  discoveries,  on  a scale 
commensurate  with  their  importance.  A board  was  esta- 
blished for  the  direction  of  Indian  affairs,  consisting  of  a 
superintendent  and  two  subordinate  functionaries.  The  first 
of  these  officers  was  Juan  de  Fonseca,  archdeacon  of  Seville, 
an  active,  ambitious  prelate,  subsequently  raised  to  high 
episcopal  preferment,  whose  shrewdness,  and  capacity  for 
business,  enabled  him  to  maintain  the  control  of  the  Indian 
department  during  the  whole  of  the  present  reign.  An  office 
for  the  transaction  of  business  was  instituted  at  Seville,  and 
a custom-house  placed  under  its  direction  at  Cadiz.  This 
was  the  origin  of  the  important  establishment  of  the  Casa  de 
la  Contratacion  de  las  Indias , or  India  House.16 

The  commercial  regulations  adopted  exhibit  a narrow  policy 
in  some  of  their  features,  for  which  a justification  may  be 
found  in  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  in  the  practice  of  the  Por- 
tuguese particularly,  but  which  entered  still  more  largely  into 
the  colonial  legislation  of  Spain  under  later  princes.  The 
new  territories,  far  from  being  permitted  free  intercourse  with 
foreign  nations,  were  opened  only  under  strict  limitations  to 
Spanish  subjects,  and  were  reserved,  as  forming,  in  some 
sort,  part  of  the  exclusive  revenue  of  the  crown.  All  persons 
of  whatever  description  were  interdicted,  under  the  severest 
penalties,  from  trading  with,  or  even  visiting  the  Indies,  with- 
out license  from  the  constituted  authorities.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  evade  this,  as  a minute  specification  of  the  ships, 
cargoes,  crews,  with  the  property  appertaining  to  each  indi- 
vidual, was  required  to  be  taken  at  the  office  in  Cadiz,  and  a 
corresponding  registration  in  a similar  office  established  at 
Hispaniola.  A more  sagacious  spirit  was  manifested  in  the 
ample  provision  made  of  whatever  could  contribute  to  the 
support  or  permanent  prosperity  of  the  infant  colony.  Grain, 
plants,  the  seeds  of  numerous  vegetable  products,  which  in 
the  genial  climate  of  the  Indies  might  be  made  valuable  arti- 
cles for  domestic  consumption  or  export,  were  liberally  fur- 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


369 


nished.  Commodities  of  every  description  for  the  supply 
of  the  fleet  were  exempted  from  duty.  The  owners  of  all  ves- 
sels throughout  the  ports  of  Andalusia  were  required,  by  an 
ordinance  somewhat  arbitrary,  to  hold  them  in  readiness  for 
the  expedition.  Still  further  authority  was  given  to  impress 
both  officers  and  men,  if  necessary,  into  the  service.  Arti- 
sans of  every  sort,  provided  with  the  implements  of  their 
various  crafts,  including  a great  number  of  miners  for  explor- 
ing the  subterraneous  treasures  of  the  new  regions,  were 
enrolled  in  the  expedition;  in  order  to  defray  the  heavy 
charges  of  which,  the  government,  in  addition  to  the  regular 
resources,  had  recourse  to  a loan,  and  to  the  sequestrated 
property  of  the  exiled  Jews.17 

Amid  their  own  temporal  concerns,  the  Spanish  sovereigns 
did  not  forget  the  spiritual  interests  of  their  new  subjects. 
The  Indians,  who  accompanied  Columbus  to  Barcelona,  had 
been  all  of  them  baptized,  being  offered  up,  in  the  language 
of  a Castilian  writer,  as  the  first-fruits  of  the  gentiles.  King 
Ferdinand,  and  his  son,  Prince  John,  stood  as  sponsors  to 
two  of  them,  who  were  permitted  to  take  their  names.  One 
of  the  Indians  remained  attached  to  the  prince’s  establish- 
ment; the  residue  were  sent  to  Seville,  whence,  after  suitable 
religious  instruction,  they  were  to  be  returned  as  missiona- 
ries for  the  propagation  of  the  faith  among  their  own  country- 
men. Twelve  Spanish  ecclesiastics  were  also  destined  to 
this  service;  among  whom  was  the  celebrated  Las  Casas,  so 
conspicuous  afterward  for  his  benevolent  exertions  in  behalf 
of  the  unfortunate  natives.  The  most  explicit  directions  were 
given  to  the  admiral,  to  use  every  effort  for  the  illumination 
of  the  poor  heathen,  which  was  set  forth  as  the  primary  ob- 
ject of  the  expedition.  He  was  particularly  enjoined  “to 
abstain  from  all  means  of  annoyance,  and  to  treat  them  well 
and  lovingly,  maintaining  a familiar  intercourse  with  them, 
renderjpg  them  all  the  kind  offices  in  his  power,  distributing 
presents  of  the  merchandise  and  various  commodities,  which 
their  Highnesses  had  caused  to  be  embarked  on  board  the  fleet 
for  that  purpose;  and  finally,  to  chastise,  in  the  most  exem- 
plary manner,  all  who  should  offer  the  natives  the  slightest 
molestation. 5 ’ Such  were  the  instructions  emphatically  urged 
on  Columbus  for  the  regulation  of  his  intercourse  with  the 
savages;  and  their  indulgent  tenor  sufficiently  attests  the  be- 
nevolent and  rational  views  of  Isabella,  in  religious  matters, 
when  not  warped  by  any  foreign  influence.18 

Toward  the  last  of  May,  Columbus  quitted  Barcelona  for 
the  purpose  of  superintending  and  expediting  the  prepara- 


37o 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


tions  for  departure  on  his  second  voyage.  He  was  accom- 
panied to  the  gates  of  the  city  by  all  the  nobility  and  cavaliers 
of  the  court.  Orders  were  issued  to  the  different  towns,  to 
provide  him  and  his  suite  with  lodgings  free  of  expense. 
His  former  commission  was  not  only  confirmed  in  its  full 
extent,  but  considerably  enlarged.  For  the  sake  of  despatch, 
he  was  authorized  to  nominate  to  all  offices,  without  applica- 
tion to  government;  and  ordinances  and  letters  patent,  bear- 
ing the  royal  seal,  were  to  be  issued  by  him,  subscribed  by 
himself  or  his  deputy.  He  was  intrusted,  in  fine,  with  such 
unlimited  jurisdiction,  as  showed,  that,  however  tardy  the 
sovereigns  may  have  been  in  granting  him  their  confidence, 
they  were  not  disposed  to  stint  the  measure  of  it,  when  his 
deserts  were  once  established.19 

Soon  after  Columbus’s  return  to  Spain,  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  applied  to  the  court  of  Rome,  to  confirm  them  in 
the  possession  of  their  recent  discoveries,  and  invest  them 
with  similar  extent  of  jurisdiction  with  that  formerly  confer- 
red on  the  kings  of  Portugal.  It  was  an  opinion,  as  ancient 
perhaps  as  the  crusades,  that  the  pope,  as  vicar  of  Christ, 
had  competent  authority  to  dispose  of  all  countries  inhabited 
by  heathen  nations,  in  favor  of  Christian  potentates.  Al- 
though Ferdinand  and  Isabella  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
fully  satisfied  of  this  right,  yet  they  were  willing  to  acquiesce 
in  its  assumption  in  the  present  instance,  from  the  conviction 
that  the  papal  sanction  would  most  effectually  exclude  the 
pretensions  of  all  others,  and  especially  their  Portuguese 
rivals.  In  their  application  to  the  Holy  See,  they  were  care- 
ful to  represent  their  own  discoveries  as  in  no  way  interfering 
with  the  rights  formerly  conceded  by  it  to  their  neighbors. 
They  enlarged  on  their  services  in  the  propagation  of  the 
faith,  which  they  affirmed  to  be  a principal  motive  of  their 
present  operations.  They  intimated,  finally,  that,  although 
many  competent  persons  deemed  their  application  to  the 
court  of  Rome,  for  a title  to  territories  already  in  their  pos- 
session, to  be  unnecessary,  yet,  as  pious  princes,  and  dutiful 
children  of  the  church,  they  were  unwilling  to  proceed  fur- 
ther without  the  sanction  of  him,  to  whose  keeping  its  highest 
interests  were  intrusted.20 

The  pontifical  throne  was  at  that  time  filled  by  Alexander 
the  Sixth;  a man  who,  although  degraded  by  unrestrained 
indulgence  of  the  most  sordid  appetites,  was  endowed  by 
nature  with  singular  acuteness,  as  well  as  energy  of  character. 
He  lent  a willing  ear  to  the  application  of  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment, and  made  no  hesitation  in  granting  what  cost  him 


SECOND  VOYAGE.  371 

nothing,  while  it  recognized  the  assumption  of  powers,  which 
had  already  begun  to  totter  in  the  opinion  of  mankind, 

On  the  3d  of  May,  1493,  he  published  a bull,  in  which, 
taking  into  consideration  the  eminent  services  of  the  Spanish 
monarchs  in  the  cause  of  the  church,  especially  in  the  sub- 
version of  the  Mahometan  empire  in  Spain,  and  willing  to 
afford  still  wider  scope  for  the  prosecution  of  their  pious 
labors,  he,  “out  of  his  pure  liberality,  infallible  knowledge, 
and  plenitude  of  apostolic  power,”  confirmed  them  in  the 
possession  of  all  lands  discovered,  or  hereafter  to  be  dis- 
covered by  them  in  the  western  ocean,  comprehending  the 
same  extensive  rights  of  jurisdiction  with  those  formerly 
conceded  to  the  kings  of  Portugal. 

This  bull  he  supported  by  another,  dated  on  the  following 
day,  in  which  the  pope,  in  order  to  obviate  any  misunder- 
standing with  the  Portuguese,  and  acting  no  doubt  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  defined  with  greater 
precision  the  intention  of  his  original  grant  to  the  latter,  by 
bestowing  on  them  all  such  lands  as  they  should  discover  to 
the  west  and  south  of  an  imaginary  line,  to  be  drawn  from 
pole  to  pole,  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  leagues  to  the 
west  of  the  Azores  and  Cape  de  Verd  Islands.21  It  seems 
to  have  escaped  his  Holiness,  that  the  Spaniards,  by  pursuing 
a western  route,  might  in  time  reach  the  eastern  limits  of 
countries  previously  granted  to  the  Portuguese.  At  least 
this  would  appear  from  the  import  of  a third  bull,  issued 
September  25th  of  the  same  year,  which  invested  the  sover- 
eigns with  plenary  authority  over  all  countries  discovered  by 
them,  whether  in  the  east,  or  within  the  boundaries  of  India, 
all  previous  concessions  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 
With  the  title  derived  from  actual  possession,  thus  fortified 
by  the  highest  ecclesiastical  sanction,  the  Spaniards  might 
have  promised  themselves  an  uninterrupted  career  of  discov- 
ery, but  for  the  jealousy  of  their  rivals,  the  Portuguese.22 

The  court  of  Lisbon  viewed  with  secret  disquietude  the 
increasing  maritime  enterprise  of  its  neighbors.  While  the 
Portuguese  were  timidly  creeping  along  the  barren  shores  of 
Africa,  the  Spaniards  had  boldly  launched  into  the  deep,  and 
rescued  unknown  realms  from  its  embraces,  which  teemed 
their  fancies  with  treasures  of  inestimable  wealth.  Their 
mortification  was  greatly  enhanced  by  the  reflection,  that  all 
this  might  have  been  achieved  for  themselves,  had  they  but 
known  how  to  profit  by  the  proposals  of  Columbus.23  From 
the  first  moment  in  which  the  success  of  the  admiral’s  enter- 
prise was  established,  John  the  Second,  a politic  and  ambi 


372 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


tious  prince,  had  sought  some  pretence  to  check  the  career 
of  discovery,  or  at  least  to  share  in  the  spoils  of  it.24 

In  his  interview  with  Columbus,  at  Lisbon,  he  suggested, 
that  the  discoveries  of  the  Spaniards  might  interfere  with  the 
rights  secured  to  the  Portuguese  by  repeated  papal  sanctions 
since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  guaranteed 
by  the  treaty  with  Spain,  in  1479.  Columbus,  without  enter- 
ing into  the  discussion,  contented  himself  with  declaring, 
that  he  had  been  instructed  by  his  own  government  to  steer 
clear  of  all  Portuguese  settlements  on  the  African  coast,  and 
that  his  course  indeed  had  led  him  in  an  entirely  different 
direction.  Although  John  professed  himself  satisfied  with 
the  explanation,  he  soon  after  despatched  an  ambassador  to 
Barcelona,  who,  after  dwelling  on  some  irrelevant  topics, 
touched,  as  it  were,  incidentally  on  the  real  object  of  his 
mission,  the  late  voyage  of  discovery.  He  congratulated  the 
Spanish  sovereigns  on  its  success;  expatiated  on  the  civili- 
ties shown  by  the  court  of  Lisbon  to  Columbus,  on  his  late 
arrival  there;  and  acknowledged  the  satisfaction  felt  by  his 
master  at  the  orders  given  to  the  admiral,  to  hold  a western 
course  from  the  Canaries,  expressing  a hope  that  the  same 
course  would  be  pursued  in  future,  without  interfering  with 
the  rights  of  Portugal  by  deviation  to  the  south.  This  was 
the  first  occasion,  on  which  the  existence  of  such  claims  had 
been  intimated  by  the  Portuguese. 

In  the  meanwhile,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  received  intelli- 
gence that  King  John  was  equipping  a considerable  arma- 
ment in  order  to  anticipate  or  defeat  their  discoveries  in  the 
west.  They  instantly  sent  one  of  their  household,  Don  Lope 
de  Herrera,  as  ambassador  to  Lisbon,  with  instructions  to 
make  their  acknowledgments  to  the  king  for  his  hospitable 
reception  of  Columbus,  accompanied  with  a request  that  he 
would  prohibit  his  subjects  from  interference  with  the  dis- 
coveries of  the  Spaniards  in  the  west,  in  the  same  manner  as 
these  latter  had  been  excluded  from  the  Portuguese  posses- 
sions in  Africa.  The  ambassador  was  furnished  with  orders 
of  a different  import,  provided  he  should  find  the  reports 
correct,  respecting  the  equipment  and  probable  destination 
of  a Portuguese  armada.  Instead  of  a conciliatory  deport- 
ment, he  was,  in  that  case,  to  assume  a tone  of  remonstrance, 
and  to  demand  a full  explanation  from  king  John,  of  his  de- 
signs. The  cautious  prince,  who  had  received,  through  his 
secret  agents  in  Castile,  intelligence  of  these  latter  instruc- 
tions, managed  matters  so  discreetly  as  to  give  no  occasion 
for  their  exercise.  He  abandoned,  or  at  least  postponed  his 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


373 


meditated  expedition,  in  the  hope  of  adjusting  the  dispute  by 
negotiation,  in  which  he  excelled.  In  order  to  quiet  the 
apprehensions  of  the  Spanish  court,  he  engaged  to  fit  out  no 
fleet  from  his  dominions  within  sixty  days;  at  the  same  time 
he  sent  a fresh  mission  to  Barcelona,  with  directions  to  pro- 
pose an  amicable  adjustment  of  the  conflicting  claims  of  the 
two  nations,  by  making  the  parallel  of  the  Canaries  a line  of 
partition  between  them;  the  right  of  discovery  to  the  north 
being  reserved  to  the  Spaniards,  and  that  to  the  south  to  the 
Portuguese.25 

While  this  game  of  diplomacy  was  going  on,  the  Castilian 
court  availed  itself  of  the  interval  afforded  by  its  rival,  to 
expedite  preparations  for  the  second  voyage  of  discovery; 
which,  through  the  personal  activity  of  the  admiral,  and  the 
facilities  everywhere  afforded  him,  were  fully  completed  be- 
fore the  close  of  September.  Instead  of  the  reluctance,  and 
indeed  avowed  disgust,  which  had  been  manifested  by  all 
classes  to  his  former  voyage,  the  only  embarrassment  now 
arose  from  the  difficulty  of  selection  among  the  multitude  of 
competitors,  who  pressed  to  be  enrolled  in  the  present  expe- 
dition. The  reports  and  sanguine  speculations  of  the  first 
adventurers  had  inflamed  the  cupidity  of  many,  which  was 
still  further  heightened  by  the  exhibition  of  the  rich  and  curi- 
ous products  which  Columbus  had  brought  back  with  him, 
and  by  the  popular  belief  that  the  new  discoveries  formed 
part  of  that  gorgeous  east, 

“whose  caverns  teem 

With  diamond  flaming,  and  with  seeds  of  gold/' 

and  which  tradition  and  romance  had  alike  invested  with  the 
supernatural  splendors  of  enchantment.  Many  others  were 
stimulated  by  the  wild  love  of  adventure,  kindled  in  the  long 
Moorish  war,  but  which,  now  excluded  from  that  career, 
sought  other  objects  in  the  vast,  untravelled  reigons  of  the 
New  World.  The  complement  of  the  fleet  was  originally 
fixed  at  twelve  hundred  souls,  which,  through  importunity  or 
various  pretences  of  the  applicants, -was  eventually  swelled  to 
fifteen  hundred.  Among  these  were  many  who  enlisted 
without  compensation,  including  several  persons  of  rank, 
hidalgos,  and  members  of  the  royal  household.  The  whole 
squadron  amounted  to  seventeen  vessels,  three  of  them  of 
one  hundred  tons’  burden  each.  With  this  gallant  navy,  Co- 
lumbus, dropping  down  the  Guadalquivir,  took  his  departure 
from  the  bay  of  Cadiz,  on  the  25th  of  September,  1493;  pre- 
senting a striking  contrast  to  the  melancholy  plight,  in  which, 


374 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


but  the  year  previous,  he  sallied  forth  like  some  forlorn 
knight-errant,  on  a desperate  and  chimerical  enterprise.20 

No  sooner  had  the  fleet  weighed  anchor,  than  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  despatched  an  embassy  in  solemn  state  to  ad- 
vise the  king  of  Portugal  of  it.  This  embassy  was  composed 
of  two  persons  of  distinguished  rank,  Don  Pedro  de  Ayala, 
and  Don  Garci  Lopez  de  Carbajal.  Agreeably  to  their  instruc- 
tions, they  represented  to  the  Portuguese  monarch  the  inad- 
missibility of  his  propositions  respecting  the  boundary  line  of 
navigation;  they  argued  that  the  grants  of  the  Holy  See, 
and  the  treaty  with  Spain  in  1479,  had  reference  merely  to 
the  actual  possessions  of  Portugal,  and  the  right  of  discovery 
by  an  eastern  route  along  the  coast  of  Africa  to  the  Indies; 
that  these  rights  had  been  invariably  respected  by  Spain: 
that  the  late  voyage  of  Columbus  struck  into  a directly  oppo- 
site track;  and^that  the  several  bulls  of  Pope  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  prescribing  the  line  of  partition,  not  from  east  to  west, 
but  from  the  north  to  the  south  pole,  were  intended  to  secure 
to  the  Spaniards  the  exclusive  right  of  discovery  in  the  west- 
ern ocean.  The  ambassadors  concluded  with  offering,  in  the 
name  of  their  sovereigns,  to  refer  the  whole  matter  in  dispute 
to  the  arbitration  of  the  court  of  Rome,  or  of  any  common 
empire. 

King  John  was  deeply  chagrined  at  learning  the  departure 
of  the  Spanish  expedition.  He  saw  that  his  rivals  had  been 
acting,  while  he  had  been  amused  with  negotiation.  He  at 
first  threw  out  hints  of  an  immediate  rupture;  and  endeavored, 
it  is  said,  to  intimidate  the  Castilian  ambassadors,  by  bringing 
them  accidentally,  as  it  were,  in  presence  of  a splendid  array 
of  cavalry,  mounted  and  ready  for  immediate  service.  He 
vented  his  spleen  on  the  embassy,  by  declaring,  ‘that  “it  was 
a mere  abortion;  having  neither  head  nor  feet;”  alluding  to 
the  personal  infirmity  of  Ayala,  who  was  lame,  and  to  the 
light,  frivolous  character,  of  the  other  envoy.27 

These  symptoms  of  discontent  were  duly  notified  to  the 
Spanish  government;  who  commanded  the  superintendent, 
Fonseca,  to  keep  a vigilant  eye  on  the  movements  of  the 
Portuguese,  and,  in  case  any  hostile  armament  should  quit 
their  ports,  to  be  in  readiness  to  act  against  it  with  one  double 
its  force.  King  John,  however,  was  too  shrewd  a prince  to 
be  drawn  into  so  impolitic  a measure  as  war  with  a powerful 
adversary,  quite  as  likely  to  baffle  him  in  the  field,  as  in  the 
council.  Neither  did  he  relish  the  suggestion  of  deciding 
the  dispute  by  arbitration;  since  he  well  knew,  that  his  claim 
rested  on  too  unsound  a basis,  to  authorize  the  expectation 


SECOND  VOYAGE. 


375 


of  a favorable  award  from  any  impartial  umpire.  He  had 
already  failed  in  an  application  for  redress  to  the  court  of 
Rome,  which  answered  him  by  reference  to  its  bulls,  recently 
published.  In  this  emergency,  he  came  to  the  resolution  at 
last,  which  should  have  been  first  adopted,  of  deciding  the 
matter  by  a fair  and  open  conference.  It  was  not  until  the 
following  year,  however,  that  his  discontent  so  far  subsided 
as  to  allow  his  acquiescence  in  this  measure. 

At  length,  commissioners  named  by  the  two  crowns  con- 
vened at  Tordesillas,  and  on  the  7th  of  June,  1494,  subscribed 
articles  of  agreement,  which  were  ratified,  in  the  course  of 
the  same  year,  by  the  respective  powers.  In  this  treaty,  the 
Spaniards-were  secured  in  the  exclusive  right  of  navigation 
and  discovery  in  the  western  ocean.  At  the  urgent  remon- 
strance of  the  Portuguese,  however,  who  complained  that  the 
papal  line  of  demarcation  cooped  up  their  enterprises  within 
too  narrow  limits,  they  consented,  that  instead  of  one  hun- 
dred, it  should  be  removed  three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues 
west  of  the  Cape  de  Verd  islands,  beyond  which  all  discov- 
eries should  appertain  to  the  Spanish  nation.  It  was  agreed 
that  one  or  two  caravels  should  be  provided  by  each  nation, 
to  meet  at  the  Grand  Canary,  and  proceed  due  west,  the 
appointed  distance,  with  a number  of  scientific  men  on  board, 
for  the  purpose  of  accurately  determining  the  longitude;  and 
if  any  lands  should  fall  under  the  meridian,  the  direction  of 
the  line  should  be  ascertained  by  the  erection  of  beacons  at 
suitable  distances.  The  proposed  meeting  never  took  place. 
But  the  removal  of  the  partition  line  was  followed  by  impor- 
tant consequences  to  the  Portuguese,  who  derived  from  it 
their  pretensions  to  the  noble  empire  of  Brazil.28 

Thus  this  singular  misunderstanding,  which  menaced  an 
open  rupture  at  one  time,  was  happily  adjusted.  Fortu- 
nately, the  accomplishment  of  the  passage  round  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  which  occurred  soon  afterward,  led  the  Portu- 
guese in  an  opposite  direction  to  their  Spanish  rivals,  their 
Brazilian  possessions  having  too  little  attractions,  at  first,  to 
turn  them  from  the  splendid  path  of  discovery  thrown  open  in 
the  east.  It  was  not  many  years,  however,  before  the  two 
nations,  by  pursuing  opposite  routes  of  circumnavigation, 
were  brought  into  collision  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe;  a 
circumstance  never  contemplated,  apparently,  by  the  treaty 
of  Tordesillas.  Their  mutual  pretensions  were  founded, 
however,  on  the  provisions  of  that  treaty,  which,  as  the  reader 
is  aware,  was  itself  only  supplementary  to  the  original  bull 
of  demarcation  of  Alexander  the  Sixth.29  Thus  this  bold 


37^ 


RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


stretch  of  papal  authority,  so  often  ridiculed  as  chimerical 
atid  absurd,  was  in  a measure  justified  by  the  event  since  it 
did,  in  fact,  determine  the  principles  on  which  the  vast  ex- 
tent of  unappropriated  empire  in  the  eastern  and  western 
hemispheres  was  ultimately  divided  between  two  petty  states 
of  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. — CULTIVATION  OF  THE  COURT. — 
CLASSICAL  LEARNING. SCIENCE. 

Early  Education  of  Ferdinand. — Of  Isabella. — Her  Library. — Early  Pro- 
mise of  Prince  John. — Scholarship  of  the  Nobles. — Accomplished 
Women. — Classical  Learning. — Universities. — Printing  introduced. — 
Encouraged  by  the  Queen. — Actual  Progress  of  Science. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  period,  when  the  history  of  Spain 
becomes  incorporated  with  that  of  the  other  states  of  Europe. 
Before  embarking  on  the  wide  sea  of  European  politics,  how- 
ever, and  bidding  adieu,  for  a season,  to  the  shores  of  Spain, 
it  will  be  necessary,  in  order  to  complete  the  view  of  the  inter- 
nal administration  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  to  show  its 
operation  on  the  intellectual  culture  of  the  nation.  This,  as  it 
constitutes,  when  taken  in  its  broadest  sense,  a principal  end 
of  all  government,  should  never  be  altogether  divorced  from 
any  history.  It  is  particularly  deserving  of  note  in  the  pre- 
sent reign,  which  stimulated  the  active  development  of  the 
national  energies  in  every  department  of  science,  and  which 
forms  a leading  epoch  in  the  ornamental  literature  of  the 
country.  The  present  and  the  following  chapter  will  embrace 
the  mental  progress  of  the  kingdom,  not  merely  down  to  the 
period  at  which  we  have  arrived,  but  through  the  whole  of 
Isabella’s  reign,  in  order  to  exhibit  as  far  as  possible  its  entire 
results,  at  a single  glance,  to  the  eye  of  the  reader. 

We  have  beheld,  in  a preceding  chapter,  the  auspicious 
literary  promise  afforded  by  the  reign  of  Isabella’s  father, 
John  the  Second,  of  Castile.  Under  the  anarchical  sway  of 
his  son,  Henry  the  Fourth,  the  court,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
abandoned  to  unbounded  license,  and  the  whole  nation  sunk 
into  a mental  torpor,  from  which  it  was  roused  only  by  the 
tumults  of  civil  war.  In  this  deplorable  state  of  things,  the 
few  blossoms  of  literature,  which  had  begun  to  open  under 
the  benign  influence  of  the  preceding  reign,  were  speedily 
trampled  under  foot,  and  every  vestige  of  civilization  seemed 
in  a fair  way  to  be  effaced  from  the  land. 

The  first  years  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella’s  government 


378 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


were  too  much  clouded  by  civil  dissensions,  to  afford  a much 
more  cheering  prospect.  Ferdinand’s  early  education,  more- 
over, had  been  greatly  neglected.  Before  the  age  of  ten,  he 
was  called  to  take  part  in  the  Catalan  wars.  His  boyhood 
was  spent  among  soldiers,  in  camps  instead  of  schools,  and 
the  wisdom  which  he  so  eminently  displayed  in  later  life,  was 
drawn  far  more  from  his  own  resources,  than  from  books.1 

Isabella  was  reared  under  more  favorable  auspices;  at  least 
more  favorable  to  mental  culture.  She  was  allowed  to  pass 
her  youth  in  retirement,  and  indeed  oblivion,  as  far  as  the 
world  was  concerned,  under  her  mother’s  care,  at  Arevalo. 
In  this  modest  seclusion,  free  from  the  engrossing  vanities 
and  vexations  of  court  life,  she  had  full  leisure  to  indulge  the 
habits  of  study  and  reflection,  to  which  her  temper  naturally 
disposed  her.  She  was  acquainted  with  several  modern  lan- 
guages, and  both  wrote  and  discoursed  in  her  own  with  great 
precision  and  elegance.  No  great  expense  or  solicitude, 
however,  appears  to  have  been  lavished  on  her  education. 
She  was  uninstructed  in  the  Latin,  which  in  that  day  was  of 
greater  importance  than  at  present;  since  it  was  not  only  the 
common  medium  of  communication  between  learned  men, 
and  the  language  in  which  the  most  familiar  treatises  were 
often  composed,  but  was  frequently  used  by  well-educated 
foreigners  at  court,  and  especially  employed  in  diplomatic 
intercourse  and  negotiation.2 

Isabella  resolved  to  repair  the  defects  of  education,  by 
devoting  herself  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Latin  tongue,  so 
soon  as  the  distracting  wars  with  Portugal,  which  attended 
her  accession,  were  terminated.  We  have  a letter  from  Pul- 
gar,  addressed  to  the  queen  soon  after  that  event,  in  which 
he  inquires  concerning  her  progress,  intimating  his  surprise, 
that  she  can  find  time  for  study  amidst  her  multitude  of  en- 
grossing occupations,  and  expressing  his  confidence  that  she 
will  acquire  the  Latin  with  the  same  facility  with  which  she 
had  already  mastered  other  languages.  The  result  justified 
his  prediction;  for  “in  less  than  a year,’’  observes  another 
contemporary,  “her  admirable  genius  enabled  her  to  obtain 
a good  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language,  so  that  she  could 
understand  without  much  difficulty  whatever  was  written  or 
spoken  in  it.’’3 

Isabella  inherited  the  taste  of  her  father,  John  the  Second, 
for  the  collecting  of  books.  She  endowed  the  convent  of  San 
Juan  de  los  Reyes  at  Toledo,  at  the  time  of  its  foundation, 
1477,  with  a library  consisting  principally  of  manuscripts.4 
The  archives  of  Simancas  contain  catalogues  of  part  of  two 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING. — SCIENCE. 


379 


separate  collections,  belonging  to  her,  whose  broken  remains 
have  contributed  to  swell  the  magnificent  library  of  the  Es- 
curial.  Most  of  them  are  in  manuscript;  the  richly  colored 
and  highly  decorated  binding  of  these  volumes  (an  art  which 
the  Spaniards  derived  from  the  Arabs)  show  how  highly  they 
were  prized,  and  the  worn  and  battered  condition  of  some  of 
them  prove  that  they  were  not  kept  merely  for  show.5 

The  queen  manifested  the  most  earnest  solicitude  for  the 
instruction  of  her  own  children.  Her  daughters  were  en- 
dowed by  nature  with  amiable  dispositions,  that  seconded 
her  maternal  efforts.  The  most  competent  masters,  native 
and  foreign,  especially  from  Italy,  then  so  active  in  the  revi- 
val of  ancient  learning,  were  employed  in  their  tuition.  This 
was  particularly  intrusted  to  two  brothers,  Antonio  and  Ales- 
sandro Geraldino,  natives  of  that  country.  Both  were  con- 
spicuous for  their  abilities  and  classical  erudition,  and  the 
latter,  who  survived  his  brother  Antonio,  was  subsequently 
raised  to  high  ecclesiastical  preferments.6  Under  these  mas- 
ters, the  infantas  made  attainments  rarely  permitted  to  the 
sex,  and  acquired  such  familiarity  with  the  Latin  tongue 
especially,  as  excited  lively  admiration  among  those  over 
whom  they  were  called  to  preside  in  riper  years.7 

A still  deeper  anxiety  was  shown  in  the  education  of  her 
only  son,  Prince  John,  heir  of  the  united  Spanish  monarchies. 
Every  precaution  was  taken  to  train  him  up  in  a manner  that 
might  tend  to  the  formation  of  the  character  suited  to  his 
exalted  station.  He  was  placed  in  a class  consisting  of  ten 
youths,  selected  from  the  sons  of  the  principal  nobility.  Five 
of  them  were  of  his  own  age,  and  five  of  riper  years,  and  they 
were  all  brought  to  reside  with  him  in  the  palace.  By  this 
means,  it  was  hoped  to  combine  the  advantages  of  public, 
with  those  of  private  education;  which  last,  from  its  solitary 
character,  necessarily  excludes  the  subject  of  it  from  the 
wholesome  influence  exerted  by  bringing  the  powers  into  daily 
collision  with  antagonists  of  a similar  age.8 

A mimic  council  was  also  formed  on  the  model  of  a coun- 
cil of  state,  composed  of  suitable  persons  of  more  advanced 
standing,  whose  province  it  was  to  deliberate  on,  and  to  dis- 
cuss, topics  connected  with  government  and  public  policy. 
Over  this  body  the  prince  presided,  and  here  he  was  initiated 
into  a practical  acquaintance  with  the  important  duties,  which 
were  to  devolve  on  him  at  a future  period  of  life.  The  pages, 
in  attendance  on  his  person,  were  also  selected  with  great 
care  from  the  cavaliers  and  young  nobility  of  the  court,  many 
of  whom  afterward  filled  with  credit  the  most  considerable 


3So 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


posts  in  the  state.  The  severer  discipline  of  the  prince  was 
relieved  by  attention  to  more  light  and  elegant  accomplish- 
ments. He  devoted  many  of  his  leisure  hours  to  music,  for 
which  he  had  a fine  natural  taste,  and  in  which  he  attained 
sufficient  proficiency  to  perform  with  skill  on  a variety  of 
instruments.  In  short,  his  education  was  happily  designed 
to  produce  that  combination  of  mental  and  moral  excellence, 
which  should  fit  him  for  reigning  over  his  subjects  with  be- 
nevolence and  wisdom.  How  well  the  scheme  succeeded  is 
abundantly  attested  by  the  commendations  of  contemporary 
writers,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  who  enlarge  on  his  fond- 
ness for  letters,  and  for  the  society  of  learned  men,  on  his 
various  attainments,  and  more  especially  his  Latin  scholar- 
ship, and  above  all  on  his  disposition,  so  amiable,  as  to  give 
promise  of  the  highest  excellence  in  maturer  life, — a promise 
alas!  most  unfortunately  for  his  own  nation,  destined  never 
to  be  realized.9 

Next  to  her  family,  there  was  no  object  which  the  queen, 
had  so  much  at  heart,  as  the  improvement  of  the  young  nobil- 
ity. During  the  troubled  reign  of  her  predecessor,  they  had 
abandoned  themselves  to  frivolous  pleasure,  or  to  a sullen 
apathy,  from  which  nothing  was  potent  enough  to  arouse 
them,  but  the  voice  of  war.10  She  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
her  plans  of  amelioration,  during  the  all-engrossing  struggle 
with  Granada,  when  it  would  have  been  esteemed  a reproach 
for  a Spanish  knight  to  have  exchanged  the  post  of  danger 
in  the  field  for  the  effeminate  pursuit  of  letters.  But,  no 
sooner  was  the  war  brought  to  a close,  than  Isabella  resumed 
her  purpose.  She  requested  the  learned  Peter  Martyr,  who 
had  come  into  Spain  with  the  count  of  Tendilla,  a few  years 
previous,  to  repair  to  the  court,  and  open  a school  there  for  the 
instruction  of  the  young  nobility.11  In  an  epistle  addressed 
by  Martyr  to  Cardinal  Mendoza,  dated  at  Granada,  April, 
1492,  he  alludes  to  the  promise  of  a liberal  recompense  from 
the  queen,  if  he  would  assist  in  reclaiming  the  young  cavaliers 
of  the  court  from  the  idle  and  unprofitable  pursuits,  in  which, 
to  her  great  mortification,  they  consumed  their  hours.  The 
prejudices  to  be  encountered  seem  to  have  filled  him  with 
natural  distrust  of  his  success;  for  he  remarks,  “Like  their 
ancestors,  they  hold  the  pursuit  of  letters  in  light  estimation, 
considering  them  an  obstacle  to  success  in  the  profession  of 
arms,  which  alone  they  esteem  worthy  of  honor.”  He  how- 
ever expresses  his  confidence,  that  the  generous  nature  of 
the  Spaniards  will  make  it  easy  to  infuse  into  them  a more 
liberal  taste;  and,  in  a subsequent  letter,  he  enlarges  on  the 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING.-— SCIENCE.  381 

“good  effects  likely  to  result  from  the  literary  ambition  exhib- 
ited by  the  heir  apparent,  on  whom  the  eyes  of  the  nation 
were  naturally  turned.”  12 

Martyr,  in  obedience  to  the  royal  summons,  instantly  re- 
paired to  court,  and  in  the  month  of  September  following, 
we  have  a letter  dated  from  Saragossa,  in  which  he  thus  speaks 
of  his  success.  “My  house,  all  day  long,  swarms  with  noble 
youths,  who,  reclaimed  from  ignoble  pursuits  to  those  of 
letters,  are  now  convinced  that  these,  so  far  from  being  a 
hindrance,  are  rather  a help  in  the  profession  of  arms.  I 
earnestly  inculcate  on  them,  that  consummate  excellence  in 
any  department,  whether  of  war  or  peace,  is  unattainable 
without  science.  It  has  pleased  our  royal  mistress,  the  pat- 
tern of  every  exalted  virtue,  that  her  own  near  kinsman,  the 
duke  of  Guimaraens,  as  well  as  the  young  duke  of  Villaher- 
mosa,  the  king’s  nephew,  should  remain  under  my  roof  dur- 
ing the  whole  day:  an  example  which  has  been  imitated  by 
.the  principal  cavaliers  of  the  court,  who,  after  attending  my 
lectures  in  company  with  their  private  tutors,  retire  at  even- 
ing to  review  them  with  these  latter  in  their  own  quarters.  ” 13 

Another  Italian  scholar,  often  cited  as  authority  in  the 
preceding  portion  of  this  work,  Lucio  Marineo  Siculo,  co- 
operated with  Martyr  in  the  introduction  of  a more  liberal 
scholarship  among  the  Castilian  nobles.  He  was  born  at 
Bedino  in  Sicily,  and,  after  completing  his  studies  at  Rome 
under  the  celebrated  Pomponio  Leto,  opened  a school  in  his 
native  island,  where  he  continued  to  teach  for  five  years.  He 
was  then  induced  to  visit  Spain,  in  i486,  with  the  admiral 
Henriquez,  and  soon  took  his  place  among  the  professors  of 
Salamanca,  where  he  filled  the  chairs  of  poetry  and  grammar 
with  great  applause  for  twelve  years.  He  was  subsequently 
transferred  to  the  court,  which  he  helped  to  illumine,  by  his 
exposition  of  the  ancient  classics,  particularly  the  Latin.14 
Under  the  auspices  of  these  and  other  eminent  scholars,  both 
native  and  foreign,  the  young  nobility  of  Castile  shook  off 
the  indolence  in  which  they  had  so  long  rusted,  and  applied 
with  generous  ardor  to  the  cultivation  of  science;  so  that, 
in  the  language  of  a contemporary,  “while  it  was  a most  rare 
occurrence,  to  meet  with  a person  of  illustrious  birth,  before 
the  present  reign,  who  had  even  studied  Latin  in  his  youth, 
there  were  now  to  be  seen  numbers  every  day,  who  sought 
to  shed  the  lustre  of  letters  over  the  martial  glory  inherited 
from  their  ancestors.”  15 

The  extent  of  this  generous  emulation  may  be  gathered 
from  the  large  correspondence  both  of  Martyr  and  Marinee 


382 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


with  their  disciples,  including  the  most  considerable  persons 
of  the  Castilian  court;  it  may  be  still  further  inferred  from 
the  numerous  dedications  to  these  persons,  of  contemporary 
publications,  attesting  their  munificent  patronage  of  literary 
enterprise;*16  and,  still  more  unequivocally,  from  the  zeal 
with  which  many  of  the  highest  rank  entered  on  such  severe 
literary  labor  as  few,  from  the  mere  love  of  letters,  are  found 
willing  to  encounter.  Don  Gutierre  de  Toledo,  son  of  the 
duke  of  Alva,  and  a cousin  of  the  king,  taught  in  the  univer- 
sity of  Salamanca.  At  the  same  place,  Don  Pedro  Fernan- 
dez de  Velasco,  son  of  the  count  of  Haro,  who  subsequently 
succeeded  his  father  in  the  hereditary  dignity  of  grand  con- 
stable of  Castile,  read  lectures  on  Fiiny  and  Ovid.  Don  Al- 
fonso de  Manrique,  son  of  the  count  of  Paredes,  was  professor 
of  Greek  in  the  university  of  Alcala.  All  ages  seemed  to 
catch  the  generous  enthusiasm;  and  the  marquis  of  Denia, 
although  turned  of  sixty,  made  amends  for  the  sins  of  his 
youth,  by  learning  the  elements  of  the  Latin  tongue,  at  this 
late  period.  In  short,  as  Giovio  remarks  in  his  eulogium  on 
Lebrija,  “No  Spaniard  was  accounted  noble  who  held  science 
in  indifference.”  From  a very  early  period,  a courtly  stamp 
was  impressed  on  the  poetic  literature  of  Spain.  A similar 
character  was  now  imparted  to  its  erudition;  and  men  of  the 
most  illustrious  birth  seemed  eager  to  lead  the  way  in  the 
difficult  career  of  science,  which  was  thrown  open  to  the 
nation.17 

In  this  brilliant  exhibition,  those  of  the  other  sex  must  not 
be  omitted,  who  contributed  by  their  intellectual  endowments 
to  the  general  illumination  of  the  period.  Among  them,  the 
writers  of  that  day  lavish  their  panegyrics  on  the  marchioness 
of  Monteagudo,  and  Doha  Maria  Pacheco,  of  the  ancient 
house  of  Mendoza,  sisters  of  the  historian,  Don  Diego  Hur- 
tado,18 and  daughters  of  the  accomplished  count  of  Tendilla, 19 
who,  while  ambassador  at  Rome,  induced  Martyr  to  visit 
Spain,  and  who  was  grandson  of  the  famous  marquis  of  San- 
tillana,  and  nephew  of  the  grand  cardinal.20  This  illustrious 
family,  rendered  yet  more  illustrious  by  its  merits  than  its 
birth,  is  worthy  of  specification,  as  affording  altogether  the 
most  remarkable  combination  of  literary  talent  in  the  en- 
lightened court  of  Castile.  The  queen’s  instructor  in  the 
Latin  language  was  a lady  named  Dona  Beatriz  de  Galindo, 
called  from  her  peculiar  attainments  la  Latina.  Another 
lady,  Dona  Lucia  de  Medrano,  publicly  lectured  on  the  Latin 
classics  in  the  university  of  Salamanca.  And  another,  Dona 
Francisca  de  Lebrija,  daughter  of  the  historian  of  that  name. 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING. — SCIENCE. 


383 


filled  the  chair  of  rhetoric  with  applause  at  Alcala.  But  our 
limits  will  not  allow  a further  enumeration  of  names,  which 
should  never  be  permitted  to  sink  into  oblivion,  were  it  only 
for  the  rare  scholarship,  peculiarly  rare  in  the  female  sex, 
which  they  displayed, in  an  age  comparatively  unenlightened.21 
Female  education  in  that  day  embraced  a wider  compass  of 
erudition,  in  reference  to  the  ancient  languages,  than  is  com- 
mon at  present;  a circumstance  attributable,  probably,  to  the 
poverty  of  modern  literature  at  that  time,  and  the  new  and 
general  appetite  excited  by  the  revival  of  classical  learning 
in  Italy.  I am  not  aware,  however,  that  it  was  usual  for 
learned  ladies,  in  any  other  country  than  Spain,  to  take  part 
in  the  public  exercises  of  the  gymnasium,  and  deliver  lectures 
from  the  chairs  of  the  universities.  This  peculiarity,  which 
may  be  referred  in  part  to  the  queen’s  influence,  who  en- 
couraged the  love  of  study  by  her  own  example,  as  well  as 
by  personal  attendance  on  the  academic  examinations,  may 
have  been  also  suggested  by  a similar  usage,  already  noticed, 
among  the  Spanish  Arabs.22 

While  the  study  of  the  ancient  tongues  came  thus  into 
fashion  with  persons  of  both  sexes,  and  of  the  highest  rank, 
it  was  widely  and  most  thoroughly  cultivated  by  professed 
scholars.  Men  of  letters,  some  of  whom  have  been  already 
noticed,  were  invited  into  Spain  from  Italy,  the  theatre  at 
that  time,  on  which,  from  obvious  local  advantages,  classical 
discovery  was  pursued  with  greatest  ardor  and  success.  To 
this  country  it  was  usual  also  for  Spanish  students  to  repair, 
in  order  to  complete  their  discipline  in  classical  literature, 
especially  the  Greek,  as  first  taught  on  sound  principles  of 
criticism,  by  the  learned  exiles  from  Constantinople.  The 
most  remarkable  of  the  Spanish  scholars,  who  made  this  lite- 
rary pilgrimage  to  Italy,  was  Antonio  de  Lebrija,  or  Nebris- 
sensis,  as  he  is  more  frequently  called  from  his  Latin  name.23 
After  ten  years  passed  at  Bologna  and  other  seminaries  of 
repute,  with  particular  attention  to  their  interior  discipline, 
he  returned,  in  1473,  to  his  native  land,  richly  laden  with  the 
stores  of  various  erudition.  He  was  invited  to  fill  the  Latin 
chair  at  Seville,  whence  he  was  successively  transferred  to 
Salamanca  and  Alcala,  both  of  which  places  he  long  contin- 
ued to  enlighten  by  his  oral  instruction  and  publications. 
The  earliest  of  these  was  his  Introducciones  Latinas , the  third 
edition  of  which  was  printed  in  1485,  being  four  years  only 
from  the  date  of  the  first;  a remarkable  evidence  of  the  growing 
taste  for  classical  learning.  A translation  in  the  vernacular 
accompanied  the  last  edition,  arranged,  at  the  queen’s  sugges- 


38  4 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


tion,  in  columns  parallel  with  those  of  the  original  text;  a form 
which,  since  become  common,  was  then  a novelty.24  The  pub- 
lication of  his  Castilian  grammar,  ‘ ‘ Grammatica  Castillana , ” 
followed  in  1492;  a treatise  designed  particularly  for  the  in- 
struction of  the  ladies  of  the  court.  The  other  productions 
of  this  indefatigable  scholar,  embrace  a large  circle  of  topics, 
independently  of  his  various  treatises  on  philology  and  criti- 
cism. Some  were  translated  into  French  and  Italian,  and 
their  republication  has  been  continued  to  the  last  century. 
No  man  of  his  own,  or  of  later  times,  contributed  more  essen- 
tially than  Lebrija  to  the  introduction  of  a pure  and  healthful 
erudition  into  Spain.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  there 
was  scarcely  an  eminent  Spanish  scholar  in  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  who  had  not  formed  himself  on  the 
instructions  of  this  master.25 

Another  name  worthy  of  commemoration,  is  that  of  Arias 
Barbosa,  a learned  Portuguese,  who,  after  passing  some  years, 
like  Lebrija,  in  the  schools  of  Italy,  where  he  studied  the 
ancient  tongues  under  the  guidance  of  Politiano,  was  induced 
to  establish  his  residence  in  Spain.  In  1489  we  find  him  at 
Salamanca,  where  he  continued  for  twenty,  or,  according  to 
some  accounts,  forty  years,  teaching  in  the  departments  of 
Greek  and  rhetoric.  At  the  close  of  that  period  he  returned 
to  Portugal,  where  he  superintended  the  education  of  some 
of  the  members  of  the  royal  family,  and  survived  to  a good 
old  age.  Barbosa  was  esteemed  inferior  to  Lebrija  in  extent 
of  various  erudition,  but  to  have  surpassed  him  in  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  Greek,  and  poetical  criticism.  In  the  for- 
mer, indeed,  he  seems  to  have  obtained  a greater  repute  than 
any  Spanish  scholar  of  the  time.  He  composed  some  valuable 
works,  especially  on  ancient  prosody.  The  unwearied  assidu- 
ity and  complete  success  of  his  academic  labors  have  secured 
to  him  a high  reputation  among  the  restorers  of  ancient  learn- 
ing, and  especially  that  of  reviving  a livelier  relish  for  the 
study  of  the  Greek,  by  conducting  it  on  principles  of  pure 
criticism,  in  the  same  manner  as  Lebrija  did  with  the  Latin.26 

The  scope  of  the  present  work  precludes  the  possibility  of 
a copious  enumeration  of  the  pioneers  of  ancient  learning,  to 
whom  Spain  owes  so  large  a debt  of  gratitude.27  The  Casti- 
lian scholars  of  the  close  of  the  fifteenth,  and  the  beginning 
of  the  sixtenth  century,  may  take  rank  with  their  illustrious 
contemporaries  of  Italy.  They  could  not  indeed  achieve  such 
brilliant  results  in  the  discovery  of  the  remains  of  antiquity, 
for  such  remains  had  been  long  scattered  and  lost  amid  the 
centuries  of  exile  and  disatrous  warfare  consequent  on  the 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING. SCIENCE.  385 

Saracen  invasion.  But  they  were  unwearied  in  their  illus- 
trations, both  oral  and  written,  of  the  ancient  authors;  and 
their  numerous  commentaries,  translations,  dictionaries, 
grammars,  and  various  works  of  criticism,  many  of  which, 
though  now  obsolete,  passed  into  repeated  editions  in  their 
own  day,  bear  ample  testimony  to  the  generous  zeal,  with 
which  they  conspired  to  raise  their  contemporaries  to  a pro- 
per level  for  contemplating  the  works  of  the  great  masters 
of  antiquity;  and  well  entitled  them  to  the  high  eulogium  of 
Erasmus,  that  ‘‘liberal  studies  were  brought,  in  the  course 
of  a few  years,  in  Spain  to  so  flourishing  a condition,  as  might 
not  only  excite  the  admiration,  but  serve  as  a model  to  the 
most  cultivated  nations  of  Europe.’ ’ 28 

The  Spanish  universities  were  the  theatre,  on  which  this 
classical  erudition  was  more  especially  displayed.  Previous 
to  Isabella’s  reign,  there  were  but  few  schools  in  the  king- 
dom; not  one  indeed  of  any  note,  except  in  Salamanca;  and 
this  did  not  escape  the  blight  which  fell  on  every  generous 
study.  But  under  the  cheering  patronage  of  the  present 
government,  they  were  soon  filled,  and  widely  multiplied. 
Academies  of  repute  were  to  be  found  in  Seville,  Toledo, 
Salamanca,  Granada,  and  Alcala;  and  learned  teachers  were 
drawn  from  abroad  by  the  most  liberal  emoluments.  At  the 
head  of  these  establishments  stood  “the  illustrious  city  of 
Salamanca,”  as  Marineo  fondly  terms  it,  ‘‘mother  of  all  libe- 
ral arts  and  virtues,  alike  renowned  for  noble  cavaliers  and 
learned  men.”29  Such  was  its  reputation,  that  foreigners  as 
well  as  natives  were  attracted  to  its  schools,  and  at  one  time, 
according  to  the  authority  of  the  same  professor,  seven  thou- 
sand students  were  assembled  within  its  walls.  A letter  of 
Peter  Martyr,  to  his  patron  the  count  of  Tendilla,  gives  a 
whimsical  picture  of  the  literary  enthusiasm  of  this  place. 
The  throng  was  so  great  to  hear  his  introductory  lecture  on 
one  of  the  Satires  of  Juvenal,  that  every  avenue  to  the  hall 
was  blockaded,  and  the  professor  was  borne  in  on  the  should- 
ers of  the  students.  Professorships  in  every  department  of 
science  then  studied,  as  well  as  of  polite  letters,  were  esta- 
blished at  the  university,  the  “new  Athens,”  as  Martyr  some- 
where styles  it.  Before  the  close  of  Isabella’s  reign,  however, 
its  glories  were  rivalled,  if  not  eclipsed,  by  those  of  Alcala;30 
which  combined  higher  advantages  for  ecclesiastical  with 
civil  education,  and  which,  under  the  splendid  patronage  of 
Cardinal  Ximenes,  executed  the  famous  Polyglot  version  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  most  stupendous  literary  enterprise  of 
that  age.31 

Vol.  I. — 17. 


386 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


This  active  cultivation  was  not  confined  to  the  dead  lan- 
guages, but  spread  more  or  less  over  ever  department  of 
knowledge.  Theological  science,  in  particular,  received  a 
large  share  of  attention.  It  had  always  formed  a principal 
object  of  academic  instruction,  though  suffered  to  languish 
under  the  universal  corruption  of  the  preceding  reign.  It  was 
so  common  for  the  clergy  to  be  ignorant  of  the  most  elementary 
knowledge,  that  the  council  of  Aranda  found  it  necessary  to 
pass  an  ordinance  the  year  before  Isabella’s  accession,  that 
no  person  should  be  admitted  to  orders  who  was  ignorant  of 
Latin.  The  queen  took  the  most  effectual  means  for  cor- 
recting this  abuse,  by  raising  only  competent  persons  to 
ecclesiastical  dignities.  The  highest  stations  in  the  church 
were  reserved  for  those,  who  combined  the  highest  intellect- 
ual endowments  with  unblemished  piety.  Cardinal  Mendoza, 
whose  acute  and  comprehensive  mind  entered  with  interest 
into  every  scheme  for  the  promotion  of  science,  was  arch- 
bishop of  Toledo;  Talavera,  whose  hospitable  mansion  was 
itself  an  academy  for  men  of  letters,  and  whose  princely  reve- 
nues were  liberally  dispensed  for  their  support,  was  raised  to 
the  see  of  Granada;  the  Ximenes,  whose  splendid  literary 
projects  will  require  more  particular  notice  hereafter,  suc- 
ceeded Mendoza  in  the  primacy  of  Spain.  Under  the  pro- 
tection of  these  enlightened  patrons,  theological  studies  were 
pursued  with  ardor,  the  Scriptures  copiously  illustrated,  and 
sacred  eloquence  cultivated  with  success. 

A similar  impulse  was  felt  in  the  other  walks  of  science. 
Jurisprudence  assumed  a new  aspect,  under  the  learned  la- 
bors of  Montalvo.32  The  mathematics  formed  a principal 
branch  of  education,  and  were  successfully  applied  to  astro- 
nomy and  geography.  Valuable  treatises  were  produced  on 
medicine,  and  on  the  more  familiar  practical  arts,  as  husband- 
ry, for  example.33  History,  which  since  the  time  of  Alfonso 
the  Tenth,  had  been  held  in  higher  honor  and  more  widely  cul- 
tivated in  Castile  than  in  any  other  European  state,  began  to 
lay  aside  the  garb  of  chronicle,  and  to  be  studied  on  more 
scientific  principles.  Charters  and  diplomas  were  consulted, 
manuscripts  collated,  coins  and  lapidary  inscriptions  deci- 
phered, and  collections  made  of  these  materials,  the  true  basis 
of  authentic  history;  and  an  office  of  public  archives,  like 
that  now  existing  at  Simancas,  was  established  at  Burgos, 
and  placed  under  the  care  of  Alonso  de  Mota,  as  keeper,  with 
a liberal  salary.34 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  opportune  for  the  enlight- 
ened purposes  of  Isabella,  than  the  introduction  of  the  art  of 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING. — SCIENCE. 


3S7 


printing  into  Spain,  at  the  commencement,  indeed  in  the  very 
first  year,  of  her  reign.  She  saw,  from  the  first  moment,  all 
the  advantages  which  it  promised  for  diffusing  and  perpetu- 
ating the  discoveries  of  science.  She  encouraged  its  esta- 
blishment, by  large  privileges  to  those  who  exercised  it, 
whether  natives  or  foreigners,  and  by  causing  many  of  the 
works,  composed  by  her  subjects,  to  be  printed  at  her  own 
charge.35 

Among  the  earlier  printers  we  frequently  find  the  names 
of  Germans;  a people,  who  to  the  original  merits  of  the  dis- 
covery may  justly  add  that  of  its  propagation  among  every 
nation  of  Europe.  We  meet  with  a pragmatica , ov  royal  or- 
dinance, dated  in  1477,  exempting  a German,  named  Theo- 
doric,  from  taxation,  on  the  ground  of  being  “one  of  the 
principal  persons  in  the  discovery  and  practice  of  the  art  of 
printing  books,  which  he  had  brought  with  him  into  Spain  at 
great  risk  and  expense,  with  the  design  of  ennobling  the 
libraries  of  the  kingdom.”36  Monopolies  for  printing  and 
selling  books  for  a limited  period,  answering  to  the  modern 
copyright,  were  granted  to  certain  persons,  in  consideration 
of  their  doing  so  at  a reasonable  rate.37  It  seems  to  have 
been  usual  for  the  printers  to  be  also  the  publishers  and  ven- 
ders of  books.  These  exclusive  privileges,  however,  do  not 
appear  to  have  been  carried  to  a mischievous  extent.  For- 
eign books,  of  every  description,  by  a law  of  1480,  were 
allowed  to  be  imported  into  the  kingdom,  free  of  all  duty 
whatever;  an  enlightened  provision,  which  might  furnish  a 
useful  hint  to  legislators  of  the  nineteenth  century.38 

The  first  press  appears  to  have  been  erected  at  Valencia, 
in  1474;  although  the  glory  of  precedence  is  stoutly  contested 
by  several  places,  and  especially  by  Barcelona.39  The  first 
work  printed  was  a collection  of  songs,  composed  for  a poeti- 
cal contest  in  honor  of  the  Virgin,  for  the  most  part  in  the  Li- 
mousin or  Valencian  dialect.40  In  the  following  year  the  first 
ancient  classic,  being  the  works  of  Sallust,  was  printed;  and 
in  1478  there  appeared  from  the  same  press  a translation  of 
the  Scriptures,  in  the  Limousin,  by  father  Boniface  Ferrer, 
brother  of  the  famous  Dominican,  St.  Vincent  Ferrer.41 
Through  the  liberal  patronage  of  the  government,  the  art 
was  widely  diffused;  and,  before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, presses  were  established  and  in  active  operation  in  the 
principal  cities  of  the  united  kingdom;  in  Toledo,  Seville, 
Ciudad  Real,  Granada,  Valadolid,  Burgos,  Salamanca,  Za- 
mora, Saragossa,  Valencia,  Barcelona,  Monte  Rey,  Lerida, 
Murcia,  Tolosa,  Taragona,  Alcala  de  Henares,  and  Madrid. 


388 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


It  is  painful  to  notice  amidst  the  judicious  provisions  for 
the  encouragement  of  science,  one  so  entirely  repugnant  to 
their  spirit  as  the  establishment  of  the  censorship.  By  an 
ordinance,  dated  at  Toledo,  July  8th,  1502,  it  was  decreed, 
that,  “as  many  of  the  books  sold  in  the  kingdom  were  defec- 
tive, or  false,  or  apocryphal,  or  pregnant  with  vain  and 
superstitious  novelties,  it  was  therefore  ordered  that  no  book 
should  hereafter  be  printed  without  special  license  from  the 
king,  or  some  person  regularly  commissioned  by  him  for  the 
purpose.”  The  names  of  the  commissioners  then  follow, 
consisting  mostly  of  ecclesiastics,  archbishops  and  bishops, 
with  authority  respectively  over  their  several  dioceses.42  This 
authority  was  devolved  in  later  times,  under  Charles  the 
Fifth  and  his  successors,  on  the  Council  of  the  Supreme,  over 
which  the  inquisitor  general  presided  ex  officio . The  imme- 
diate agents  employed  in  the  examination  were  also  drawn 
from  the  Inquisition,  who  exercised  this  important  trust,  as 
is  well  known,  in  a manner  most  fatal  to  the  interests  of  let- 
ters and  humanity.  Thus  a provision,  destined  in  its  origin 
for  the  advancement  of  science,  by  purifying  it  from  the 
crudities  and  corruptions  which  naturally  infect  it  in  a primi- 
tive age,  contributed  more  effectually  to  its  discouragement, 
than  any  other  which  could  have  been  devised,  by  interdict- 
ing the  freedom  of  expression,  so  indispensable  to  freedom 
of  inquiry.43 

While  endeavoring  to  do  justice  to  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion in  this  reign,  I should  regret  to  present  to  the  reader  an 
over-colored  picture  of  its  results.  Indeed,  less  emphasis 
should  be  laid  on  any  actual  results,  than  on  the  spirit  of 
improvement,  which  they  imply  in  the  nation,  and  the  liberal 
dispositions  of  the  government.  The  fifteenth  century  was 
distinguished  by  a zeal  for  research  and  laborious  acquisition, 
especially  in  ancient  literature,  throughout  Europe,  which 
showed  itself  in  Italy  in  the  beginning  of  the  age,  and  in 
Spain,  and  some  other  countries,  toward  the  close.  It  was 
natural  that  men  should  explore  the  long-buried  treasures 
descended  from  their  ancestors,  before  venturing  on  any  thing 
of  their  own  creation.  Their  efforts  were  eminently  success- 
ful; and,  by  opening  an  acquaintance  with  the  immortal  pro- 
ductions of  ancient  literature,  they  laid  the  best  foundation 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  modern. 

In  the  sciences,  their  success  was  more  equivocal.  A blind 
reverence  for  authority,  a habit  of  speculation,  instead  of 
experiment,  so  pernicious  in  physics,  in  short  an  ignorance 
of  the  true  principles  of  philosophy,  often  led  the  scholars  of 


CLASSICAL  LEARNING. SCIENCE. 


389 


that  day  in  a wrong  direction.  Even  when  they  took  a right 
one,  their  attainments,  under  all  these  impediments,  were 
necessarily  so  small,  as  to  be  scarcely  perceptible,  when 
viewed  from  the  brilliant  heights  to  which  science  has  arrived 
in  our  own  age.  Unfortunately  for  Spain,  its  subsequent 
advancement  has  been  so  retarded,  that  a comparison  of  the 
fifteenth  century  with  those  which  succeeded  it,  is  by  no 
means  so  humiliating  to  the  former  as  in  some  other  countries 
of  Europe;  and  it  is  certain,  that  in  general  intellectual  fer- 
mentation, no  period  has  surpassed,  if  it  can  be  said  to  have 
rivalled,  the  age  of  Isabella. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. — ROMANCES  OF  CHIVALRY. — LYRI- 
CAL POETRY. THE  DRAMA. 

This  Reign  an  Epoch  in  Polite  Letters. — Romances  of  Chivalry. — Ballads 
or  Romances. — Moorish  Minstrelsy. — “Cancionero  General.” — Its  Lit- 
erary Value. — R.ise  of  the  Spanish  Drama. — Criticism  on  “Celestina.” 
— Encina. — Naharro. — Low  Condition  of  the  Stage. — National  Spirit 
of  the  Literature  of  this  Epoch. 

Ornamental  or  polite  literature  which,  emanating  from  the 
taste  and  sensibility  of  a nation,  readily  exhibits  its  various 
fluctuations  of  fashion  and  feeling,  was  stamped  in  Spain 
with  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  this  revolutionary 
age.  The  Provengale,  which  reached  such  high  perfection 
in  Catalonia,  and  subsequently  in  Aragon,  as  noticed  in  an 
introductory  chapter,1  expired  with  the  union  of  this  mon- 
archy with  Castile,  and  the  dialect  ceased  to  be  applied  to 
literary  purposes  altogether,  after  the  Castilian  became  the 
language  of  the  court  in  the  united  kingdoms.  The  poetry 
of  Castile,  which  throughout  the  present  reign  continued  to 
breathe  the  same  patriotic  spirit,  and  to  exhibit  the  same 
national  peculiarities  that  had  distinguished  it  from  the  time 
of  the  Cid,  submitted  soon  after  Ferdinand’s  death  to  the 
influence  of  the  more  polished  Tuscan,  and  henceforth,  los- 
ing somewhat  of  its  distinctive  physiognomy,  assumed  many 
of  the  prevalent  features  of  continental  literature.  Thus  the 
reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  becomes  an  epoch  as  mem- 
orable in  literary,  as  in  civil  history. 

The  most  copious  vein  of  fancy,  in  that  day,  was  turned 
in  the  direction  of  the  prose  romance  of  chivalry;  now  sel- 
dom disturbed,  even  in  its  own  country,  except  by  the  anti- 
quary. The  circumstances  of  the  age  naturally  led  to  its 
production.  The  romantic  Moorish  wars,  teeming  with  ad- 
venturous exploit  and  picturesque  incident,  carried  on  with 
the  natural  enemies  of  the  Christian  knight,  and  opening 
moreover  all  the  legendary  stores  of  oriental  fable, — the  stir- 
ring adventures  by  sea  as  well  as  land, — above  all,  the  dis- 
covery of  a world  beyond  the  waters,  whose  unknown  regions 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


391 


gave  full  scope  to  the  play  of  the  imagination,  all  contributed 
to  stimulate  the  appetite  for  the  incredible  chimeras,  the 
magnanime  menzogne , of  chivalry.  The  publication  of  “Am- 
adis  de  Gaula”  gave  a decided  impulse  to  this  popular  feel- 
ing. This  romance,  which  seems  now  well  ascertained  to 
be  the  production  of  a Portuguese  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century,2  was  first  printed  in  a Spanish  version, 
probably  not  far  from  1490. 3 Its  editor  Garci  Ordonez  de 
Montalvo,  states,  in  his  prologue,  that  “he  corrected  it  from 
the  ancient  originals,  pruning  it  of  all  superfluous  phrases, 
and  substituting  others  of  a more  polished  and  elegant 
style.”4  How  far  its  character  was  benefited  by  this  work 
of  purification  may  be  doubted;  although  it  is  probable  it 
did  not  suffer  so  much  by  such  a process  as  it  would  have 
done  in  a later  and  more  cultivated  period.  The  simple 
beauties  of  this  fine  old  romance,  its  bustling  incidents,  re- 
lieved by  the  delicate  play  of  oriental  machinery,  its  general 
truth  of  portraiture,  above  all,  the  knightly  character  of  the 
hero,  who  graced  the  prowess  of  chivalry  with  a courtesy, 
modesty,  and  fidelity,  unrivalled  in  the  creations  of  romance, 
soon  recommended  it  to  popular  favor  and  imitation.  A con- 
tinuation, bearing  the  title  of  “Las  Sergas  de  Esplandian, ’’ 
was  given  to  the  world  by  Montalvo  himself,  and  grafted  on 
the  original  stock,  as  the  fifth  book  of  the  Amadis,  before 
1510.  A sixth,  containing  the  adventures  of  his  nephew,  was 
printed  at  Salamanca  in  the  course  of  the  last-mentioned 
year;  and  thus  the  idle  writers  of  the  day  continued  to  pro- 
pagate dulness  through  a series  of  heavy  tomes,  amounting 
in  all  to  four  and  twenty  books,  until  the  much  abused  public 
would  no  longer  suffer  the  name  of  Amadis  to  cloak  the 
manifold  sins  of  his  posterity.5  Other  knights-errant  were 
sent  roving  about  the  world  at  the  same  time,  whose  exploits 
would  fill  a library;  but  fortunately  they  have  been  permitted 
to  pass  into  oblivion,  from  which  a few  of  their  names  only 
have  been  rescued  by  the  caustic  criticism  of  the  curate  in 
Don  Quixote;  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  after  declaring 
that  the  virtues  of  the  parent  shall  not  avail  his  posterity, 
condemns  them  and  their  companions,  with  one  or  two  ex- 
ceptions only,  to  the  fatal  funeral  pile.6 

The  romances  of  chivalry  must  have  undoubtedly  contri- 
buted to  nourish  those  exaggerated  sentiments,  which  from  a 
very  early  period  entered  into  the  Spanish  character.  Their 
evil  influence,  in  a literary  view,  resulted  less  from  their  im- 
probabilities of  situation,  which  they  possessed  in  common 
with  the  inimitable  Italian  epic^,  than  from  the  false  pictures 


392 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


which  they  presented  of  human  character,  familiarizing  the 
eye  of  the  reader  with  such  models  as  debauched  the  taste, 
and  rendered  him  incapable  of  relishing  the  chaste  and  sober 
productions  of  art.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  chivalrous 
romance,  which  was  so  copiously  cultivated  through  the 
greater  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  should  not  have  as- 
sumed the  poetic  form,  as  in  Italy,  and  indeed  among  our 
Norman  ancestors;  and  that,  in  its  prose  dress,  no  name  of 
note  appears  to  raise  it  to  a high  degree  of  literary  merit. 
Perhaps  such  a result  might  have  been  achieved,  but  for  the 
sublime  parady  of  Cervantes,  which  cut  short  the  whole  race 
of  knights-errant,  and  by  the  fine  irony,  which  it  threw 
around  the  mock  heroes  of  chivalry,  extinguished  them  for- 
ever. 

The  most  popular  poetry  of  this  period,  that  springing 
from  the  body  of  the  people,  and  most  intimately  addressed 
to  it,  is  the  balads,  or  romances , as  they  are  termed  in  Spain. 
These  indeed  were  familiar  to  the  Peninsula  as  far  back  as 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries;  but  in  the  present  reign 
they  received  a fresh  impulse  from  the  war  with  Granada, 
and  composed,  under  the  name  of  the  Moorish  ballads,  what 
may  perhaps  be  regarded,  without  too  high  praise,  as  the 
most  exquisite  popular  minstrelsy  of  any  age  or  country. 

The  humble  narrative  lyrics  making  up  the  mass  of  ballad 
poetry,  and  forming  the  natural  expression  of  a simple  state 
of  society,  would  seem  to  be  most  abundant  in  nations  en- 
dowed with  keen  sensbilities,  and  placed  in  situations  of  ex- 
citement and  powerful  interest,  fitted  to  develope  them.  The 
light  and  lively  French  have  little  to  boast  of  in  this  way.8 
The  Italians,  with  a deeper  poetic  feeling,  were  too  early  ab- 
sorbed in  the  gross  business  habits  of  trade,  and  their  litera- 
ture received  too  high  a direction  from  its  master  spirits,  at 
its  very  commencement,  to  allow  any  considerable  deviation 
in  this  track.  The  countries  where  it  has  most  thriven,  are 
probably  Great  Britian  and  Spain.  The  English  and  the 
Scotch,  whose  constitutionally  pensive  and  even  melancholy 
temperament  has  been  deepened  by  the  sober  complexion  of 
the  climate,  were  led  to  the  cultivation  of  this  poetry  still 
further  by  the  stirring  scenes  of  feudal  warfare  in  which  they 
were  engaged,  especially  along  the  borders.  The  Spaniards, 
to  similar  sources  of  excitement,  added  that  of  high  religious 
feeling  In  their  struggles  with  the  Saracens,  which  gave  a 
somewhat  loftier  character  to  their  effusions.  Fortunately 
for  them,  their  early  annals  gave  birth,  in  the  Cid,  to  a hero, 
whose  personal  renown  was  identified  with  that  of  his  country, 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


393 


round  whose  name  might  be  concentrated  all  the  scattered 
lights  of  song,  thus  enabling  the  nation  to  build  up  its  poetry 
on  the  proudest  historic  recollections.9  The  feats  of  many 
other  heroes,  fabulous  as  well  as  real,  were  permitted  to  swell 
the  stream  of  traditionary  verse;  and  thus  a body  of  poetical 
annals,  springing  up  as  it  were  from  the  depths  of  the  people, 
was  bequeathed  from  sire  to  son,  contributing,  perhaps,  more 
powerfully  than  any  real  history  could  have  done,  to  infuse 
a common  principle  of  patriotism  into  the  scattered  members 
of  the  nation. 

There  is  considerable  resemblance  between  the  early  Span- 
ish ballad  and  the  British.  The  latter  affords  more  situa- 
tions of  pathos  and  deep  tenderness,  particularly  those  of 
suffering,  uncomplaining  love,  a favorite  theme  with  old 
English  poets  of  every  description.10  We  do  not  find,  either, 
in  the  ballads  of  the  Peninsula,  the  wild,  romantic  adventures 
of  the  roving  outlaw,  of  the  Robin  Hood  genus,  which  enter 
so  largely  into  English  minstrelsy.  The  former  are  in  gen- 
eral of  a more  sustained  and  chivalrous  character,  less  gloomy, 
and  although  fierce  not  so  ferocious,  nor  so  decidedly  tragi- 
cal in  their  aspect,  as  the  latter.  The  ballads  of  the  Cid, 
however,  have  many  points  in  common  with  the  border  poe- 
try; the  same  free  and  cordial  manner,  the  same  love  of  mili- 
tary exploit,  relieved  by  a certain  tone  of  generous  gallantry, 
and  accompanied  by  a strong  expression  of  national  feeling. 

The  resemblance  between  the  minstrelsy  of  the  two  coun- 
tries vanishes,  however,  as  we  approach  the  Moorish  ballads. 
The  Moorish  wars  had  always  afforded  abundant  themes  of 
interest  for  the  Castilian  muse;  but  it  was  not  till  the  fall  of 
the  capital,  that  the  very  fountains  of  song  were  broken  up, 
and  those  beautiful  ballads  were  produced,  which  seem  like 
the  echoes  of  departed  glory,  lingering  round  the  ruins  of 
Granada.  Incompetent  as  these  pieces  may  be  as  historical 
records,  they  are  doubtless  sufficiently  true  to  manners.11 
They  present  a most  remarkable  combination,  of  not  merely 
the  exterior  form,  but  the  noble  spirit  of  European  chivalry, 
with  the  gorgeousness  and  effeminate  luxury  of  the  east. 
They  are  brief,  seizing  single  situations  of  the  highest  poetic 
interest,  and  striking  the  eye  of  the  reader  with  a brilliancy 
of  execution,  so  artless  in  appearance  withal  as  to  seem  rather 
the  effect  of  accident  than  study.  We  are  transported  to  the 
gay  seat  of  Moorish  power,  and  witness  the  animating  bustle, 
its  pomp  and  its  revelry,  prolonged  to  the  last  hour  of  its 
existence.  The  bull-fight  of  the  Vivarrambla,  the  graceful 
tilt  of  reeds,  the  amorous  knights  with  their  quaint  signify 


394 


CASTILTAN  LITERATURE. 


cant  devices,  the  dark  Zegris,  or  Gomeres,  and  the  royal, 
self-devoted  Abencerrages,  the  Moorish  maiden  radiant  at 
the  tourney,  the  moonlight  serenade,  the  stolen  interview, 
where  the  lover  gives  vent  to  all  the  intoxication  of  passion 
in  the  burning  language  of  Arabian  metaphor  and  hyper- 
bole,12— these,  and  a thousand  similar  scenes  are  brought 
before  the  eye,  by  a succession  of  rapid  and  animated  touches, 
like  the  lights  and  shadows  of  a landscape.  The  light  tro- 
chaic structure  of  the  redondilla ,13  as  the  Spanish  ballad 
measure  is  called,  rolling  on  its  graceful,  negligent  asonante ,“ 
whose  continued  repetition  seems  by  its  monotonous  melody 
to  prolong  the  note  of  feeling  originally  struck,  is  admirably 
suited  by  its  flexibility  to  the  most  varied  and  opposite  ex- 
pression; a circumstance  which  has  recommended  it  as  the 
ordinary  measure  of  dramatic  dialogue. 

Nothing  can  be  more  agreeable  than  the  general  effect  of 
the  Moorish  ballads,  which  combine  the  elegance  of  a riper 
period  of  literature,  with  the  natural  sweetness  and  simplicity, 
savoring  sometimes  even  of  rudeness,  of  a primitive  age. 
Their  merits  have  raised  them  to  a sort  of  classical  dignity  in 
Spain,  and  have  led  to  their  cultivation  by  a higher  order  of 
writers,  and  down  to  a far  later  period,  than  in  any  other 
country  in  Europe.  The  most  successful  specimens  of  this 
imitation  may  be  assigned  to  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
century;  but  the  age  was  too  late  to  enable  the  artist,  with 
all  his  skill,  to  seize  the  true  coloring  of  the  antique.  It  is 
impossible,  at  this  period,  to  ascertain  the  authors  of  these 
venerable  lyrics,  nor  can  the  exact  time  of  their  production 
be  now  determined;  although,  as  their  subjects  are  chiefly 
taken  from  the  last  days  of  the  Spanish  Arabian  empire,  the 
larger  part  of  them  was  probably  posterior,  and,  as  they 
were  printed  in  collections  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  could  not  have  been  long  posterior,  to  the  capture 
of  Granada.  How  far  they  may  be  referred  to  the  conquered 
Moors,  is  uncertain.  Many  of  these  wrote  and  spoke  the 
Castilian  with  elegance,  and  there  is  nothing  improbable  in 
the  supposition,  that  they  should  seek  some  solace  under 
present  evils  in  the  splendid  visions  of  the  past.  The  bulk 
of  this  poetry,  however,  was  in  all  probability  the  creation 
of  the  Spaniards  themselves,  naturally  attracted  by  the  pictu- 
resque circumstances  in  the  character  and  condition  of  the 
conquered  nation  to  invest  them  with  poetic  interest. 

The  Moorish  romances  fortunately  appeared  after  the  intro- 
duction of  printing  into  the  Peninsula,  so  that  they  were 
secured  a permanent  existence,  instead  of  perishing  with  the 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


395 


breath  that  made  them,  like  so  many  of  their  predecessors. 
This  misfortune,  which  attaches  to  so  much  of  popular  poetry 
in  all  nations,  is  not  imputable  to  any  insensibility  in  the 
Spaniards  to  the  excellence  of  their  own.  Men  of  more 
erudition  than  taste  may  have  held  them  light,  in  comparison 
with  more  ostentatious  and  learned  productions.  This  fate 
has  befallen  them  in  other  countries  than  Spain.15  But  per- 
sons of  finer  poetic  feeling,  and  more  enlarged  spirit  of  criti- 
cism, have  estimated  them  as  a most  essential  and  character- 
istic portion  of  Castilian  literature.  Such  was  the  judgment 
of  the  great  Lope  de  Vega,  who,  after  expatiating  on  the 
extraordinary  compass  and  sweetness  of  the  romance , and  its 
adaptation  to  the  highest  subjects,  commends  it  as  worthy 
of  all  estimation  for  its  peculiar  national  character.16  The 
modern  Spanish  writers  have  adopted  a similar  tone  of  criti- 
cism, insisting  on  its  study,  as  essential  to  a correct  apprecia- 
tion and  comprehension  of  the  genius  of  the  language.17 

The  Castilian  ballads  were  first  printed  in  the  “Cancionero 
General”  of  Ferdnando  del  Castillo,  in  1511.  They  were 
first  incorporated  into  a separate  work,  by  Sepulveda,  under 
the  name  of  “Romances  §acados  de  Historias  Antiguas,” 
printed  at  Antwerp,  in  1551. 18  Since  that  period,  they  have 
passed  into  repeated  editions,  at  home  and  abroad,  especially 
in  Germany,  where  they  have  been  illustrated  by  able  critics.19 
Ignorance  of  their  authors,  and  of  the  era  of  their  produc- 
tion, has  prevented  any  attempt  at  exact  chronological  ar- 
rangement; a circumstance  rendered,  moreover,  nearly  im- 
possible, by  the  perpetual  modification  which  the  original 
style  of  the  more  ancient  ballads  has  experienced,  in  their 
transition  through  successive  generations;  so  that,  with  one 
or  two  exceptions,  no  earlier  date  should  probably  be  assigned 
to  the  oldest  of  them,  in  their  present  form,  than  the  fif- 
teenth century.20  Another  system  of  classification  has  been 
aodpted,  of  distributing  them  according  to  their  subjects;  and 
independent  collections  also  of  the  separate  departments,  as 
ballads  of  the  Cid,  of  the  Twelve  Peers,  the  Morisco  ballads 
and  the  like,  have  been  repeatedly  published,  both  at  homi 
and  abroad.21 

The  higher,  and  educated  classes  of  the  nation,  were  not 
insensible  to  the  poetic-  spirit,  which  drew  forth  such  excel- 
lent minstrelsy  from  the  body  of  the  people.  Indeed  Cas- 
tilian poetry  bore  the  same  patrician  stamp  through  the  whole 
of  present  reign,  which  had  been  impressed  on  it  in  its  in- 
fancy. Fortunately  the  new  art  of  printing  was  employed 
here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  romances , to  arrest  those  fugitive 


3 96 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


sallies  of  imagination,  which  in  other  countries  were  permit- 
ted, from  want  for  this  care,  to  pass  into  oblivion;  and  can - 
cioneros , or  collections  of  lyrics,  were  published,  embodying 
the  productions  of  this  reign  and  that  of  John  the  Second, 
thus  bringing  under  one  view  the  poetic  culture  of  the  fif- 
teenth century. 

The  earliest  cancionero  printed  was  at  Saragossa,  in  1492. 
It  comprehended  the  works  of  Mena,  Manrique,  and  six  or 
seven  other  bards  of  less  note.22  A far  more  copious  collec- 
tion was  made  by  Fernando  de  Castillo,  and  first  published 
at  Valencia,  in  15 11,  under  the  title  of  “Cancionero  General,” 
since  which  period  it  has  passed  into  repeated  editions.  This 
compilation  is  certainly  more  creditable  to  Castillo’s  industry, 
than  to  his  discrimination  or  power  of  arrangement.  Indeed, 
in  this  latter  respect  it  is  so  defective,  that  it  would  almost 
seem  to  have  been  put  together  fortuitously,  as  the  pieces 
came  to  hand.  A large  portion  of  the  authors  appear  to 
have  been  persons  of  rank;  a circumstance  to  which  perhaps 
they  were  indebted,  more  than  to  any  poetic  merit,  for  a 
place  in  the  miscellany,  which  might  have  been  decidedly 
increased  in  value  by  being  diminished  in  bulk.23 

The  works  of  devotion  with  which  the  collection  opens,  are 
on  the  whole  the  feeblest  portion  of  it.  We  discern  none  of 
the  inspiration  and  lyric  glow,  which  were  to  have  been  an- 
ticipated from  the  devout,  enthusiastic  Spaniard.  We  meet 
with  anagrams  on  the  Virgin,  glosses  on  the  creed  and  pater 
noster,  canciones  on  original  sin  and  the  like  unpromising 
topics,  all  discussed  in  the  most  bald  prosaic  manner,  with 
abundance  of  Latin  phrase,  scriptural  allusion,  and  common- 
place precept,  unenlivened  by  a single  spark  of  true  poetic 
fire,  and  presenting  altogether  a farrago  of  the  most  fantastic 
pedantry. 

The  lighter,  especially  the  amatory  poems,  are  much  more 
successfully  executed,  and  the  primitive  forms  of  the  old 
Castilian  versification  are  developed  with  considerable  vari- 
ety and  beauty.  Among  the  most  agreeable  effusions  in  this 
way,  may  be  noticed  those  of  Diego  Lopez  de  Haro,  who, 
to  borrow  the  encomium  of  a contemporary,  was  “the  mirror 
of  gallantry  for  the  young  cavaliers  of  the  time.”  There 
are  few  verses  in  the  collection  composed  with  more  facility 
and  grace.24  Among  the  more  elaborate  pieces,  Diego  de 
San  Pedro’s  “Desprecio  de  la  Fortuna”  maybe  distinguised, 
not  so  much  for  any  poetic  talent  which  it  exhibits,  as  for  its 
mercurial  and  somewhat  sarcastic  tone  of  sentiment.25  The 
similarity  of  subject  may  suggest  a parallel  between  it  and 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


397 


the  Italian  poet  Guidi’s  celebrated  ode  on  Fortune;  and  the 
different  styles  of  execution  may  perhaps  be  taken,  as  indi- 
cating pretty  fairly  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  the  Tuscan 
and  the  old  Spanish  school  of  poetry.  The  Italian,  introduc- 
ing the  fickle  goddess,  in  person,  on  the  scene,  describes 
her  triumphant  march  over  the  ruins  of  empires  and  dynas- 
ties, from  the  earliest  time,  in  a flow  of  lofty  dithyrambic 
eloquence,  adorned  with  all  the  brilliant  coloring  of  a stimu- 
lated fancy  and  a highly  finished  language.  The  Castilian, 
on  the  other  hand,  instead  of  this  splendid  personification, 
deepens  his  verse  into  a moral  tone,  and,  dwelling  on  the 
vicissitudes  and  vanities  of  human  life,  points  his  reflections 
with  some  caustic  warning,  often  conveyed  with  enchanting 
simplicity,  but  without  the  least  approach  to  lyric  exaltation, 
or  indeed  the  affectation  of  it. 

This  proneness  to  moralize  the  song  is  in  truth  a charac- 
teristic of  the  old  Spanish  bard.  He  rarely  abandons  himself, 
without  reserve,  to  the  frolic  puerilities  so  common  with  the 
sister  Muse  of  Italy, 

“ Scritta  cosi  come  la  penna  getta, 

Per  fuggir  V ozio,  e non  per  cercar  gloria.” 

It  is  true,  he  is  occasionally  betrayed  by  verbal  subtilities 
and  other  affectations  of  the  age;2fi  but  even  his  liveliest  sal- 
lies are  apt  to  be  seasoned  with  a moral,  or  sharpened  by  a 
satiric  sentiment.  His  defects,  indeed,  are  of  the  kind  most 
opposed  to  those  of  the  Italian  poet,  showing  themselves, 
especially  in  the  more  elaborate  pieces,  in  a certain  tumid 
stateliness  and  overstrained  energy  of  diction. 

On  the  whole,  one  cannot  survey  the  “Cancionero  Gen- 
eral” without  some  disappointment  at  the  little  progress  of 
the  poetic  art,  since  the  reign  of  John  the  Second,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  century.  The  best  pieces  in  the  collection 
are  of  that  date,  and  no  rival  subsequently  arose  to  compete 
with  the  masculine  strength  of  Mena,  or  the  delicacy  and  fas- 
cinating graces  of  Santillana.  One  cause  of  this  tardy  pro- 
gress may  have  been,  the  direction  to  utility  manifested  in 
this  active  reign,  which  led  such  as  had  leisure  for  intellectual 
pursuits  to  cultivate  science,  rather  than  abandon  themselves 
to  the  mere  revels  of  the  imagination. 

Another  cause  may  be  found  in  the  rudeness  of  the  lan- 
guage, whose  delicate  finish  is  so  essential  to  the  purposes  of 
the  poet,  but  which  was  so  imperfect  at  this  period,  that  Juan 
de  la  Encina,  a popular  writer  of  the  time,  complained  that 
he  was  obliged,  in  his  version  of  Virgil’s  Eclogues,  to  coin, 


39§ 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


as  it  were,  a new  vocabulary,  from  the  want  of  terms  corres- 
ponding with  the  original,  in  the  old  one.27  It  was  not  until 
the  close  of  the  present  reign,  when  the  nation  began  to 
breathe  awhile  from  its  tumultuous  career,  that  the  fruits  of 
the  patient  cultivation  which  it  had  been  steadily,  though 
silently  experiencing,  began  to  manifest  themselves  in  the 
improved  condition  of  the  language,  and  its  adaptation  to  the 
highest  poetical  uses.  The  intercourse  with  Italy,  moreover, 
by  naturalizing  new  and  more  finished  forms  of  versification, 
afforded  a scope  for  the  nobler  efforts  of  the  poet,  to  which 
the  old  Castilian  measures,  however  well  suited  to  the  wild 
and  artless  movements  of  the  popular  minstrelsy,  were  alto- 
gether inadequate. 

We  must  not  dismiss  the  miscellaneous  poetry  of  this  period, 
without  some  notice  of  the  “ ‘Coplas”  of  Don  Jorge  Man- 
rique,28  on  the  death  of  his  father,  the  count  of  Paredes,  in 
1474. 29  The  elegy  is  of  considerable  length,  and  is  sustained 
throughout  in  a tone  of  the  highest  moral  dignity,  while  the 
poet  leads  us  up  from  the  transitory  objects  of  this  lower 
world  to  the  contemplation  of  that  imperishable  existence, 
which  Christianity  has  opened  beyond  the  grave.  A tend- 
erness pervades  the  piece,  which  may  remind'  us  of  the  best 
manner  of  Petrarch;  while,  with  the  exception  of  a slight 
taint  of  pedantry,  it  is  exempt  from  the  meretricious  vices 
that  belong  to  the  poetry  of  the  age.  The  effect  of  the  sen- 
timent is  heightened  by  the  simple  turns  and  broken  melody 
of  the  old  Castilian  verse,  of  which  perhaps  this  may  be  ac- 
counted the  most  finished  specimen;  such  would  seem  to  be 
the  judgment  of  his  own  countrymen,30  whose  glosses  and 
commentaries  on  it  have  swelled  into  a separate  volume.31 

I shall  close  this  survey  with  a brief  notice  of  the  drama, 
whose  foundations  may  be  said  to  have  been  laid  during  this 
reign.  The  sacred  plays,  or  mysteries,  so  popular  through- 
out Europe  in  the  middle  ages,  may  be  traced  in  Spain  to  an 
ancient  date.  Their  familiar  performance  in  the  churches, 
by  the  clergy,  is  recognized  in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  by  a law  of  Alfonso  the  Tenth,  which,  while  it  in- 
terdicted certain  profane  mummeries  that  had  come  into 
vogue,  prescribed  the  legitimate  topics  for  exhibition.32 

The  transition  from  these  rude  spectacles  to  more  regular 
dramatic  efforts,  was  very  slow  and  gradual.  In  1414,  an 
allegorical  comedy,  composed  by  the  celebrated  Henry,  mar- 
quis of  Villena,  was  performed  at  Saragossa,  in  the  presence 
of  the  court.33  In  1469,  a dramatic  eclogue  by  an  anonymous 
author,  was  exhibited  in  the  palace  of  the  court  of  Urena, 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


399 


in  the  presence  of  Ferdinand,  on  his  coming  into  Castile  to 
espouse  the  infanta  Isabella.34  These  pieces  may  be  regarded 
as  the  earliest  theatrical  attempts,  after  the  religious  dramas 
and  popular  pantomimes  already  noticed;  but  unfortunately 
they  have  not  come  down  to  us.  The  next  production  de- 
serving attention  is,  a “Dialogue  between  Love  and  an  Old 
Man,”  imputed  to  Rodrigo  Cota,  a poet  of  whose  history 
nothing  seems  to  be  known,  and  little  conjectured,  but  that 
he  flourished  during  the  reigns  of  John  the  Second,  and 
Henry  the  Fourth.  The  dialogue  is  written  with  much  vi- 
vacity and  grace,  and  with  as  much  dramatic  movement  as 
is  compatible  with  only  two  interlocutors.35 

A much  more  memorable  production  is  referred  to  the 
same  author,  the  tragicomedy  of  “Celestina, ” or  “Calisto 
and  Melibea,  ” as  it  is  frequently  called.  The  first  act,  in- 
deed, constituting  nearly  one  third  of  the  piece,  is  all  that  is 
ascribed  to  Cota.  The  remaining  twenty,  which  however 
should  rather  be  denominated  scenes,  were  continued  by 
another  hand,  some,  though  to  judge  from  the  internal  evi- 
dence afforded  by  the  style,  not  many  years  later.  The 
second  author  was  Fernando  de  Roxas,  bachelor  of  law,  as 
he  informs  us,  who  composed  this  work  as  a sort  of  intellec- 
tual relaxation,  during  one  of  his  vacations.  The  time  was 
certainly  not  misspent.  The  continuation,  however,  is  not 
esteemed  by  the  Castilian  critics  to  have  arisen  quite  to  the 
level  of  the  original  act.36 

The  story  turns  on  a love  intrigue.  A Spanish  youth  of 
rank  is  enamoured  of  a lady,  whose  affections  he  gains  with 
some  difficulty,  but  whom  he  finally  seduces,  through  the 
arts  of  an  accomplished  courtesan,  whom  the  author  has  in- 
troduced under  the  romantic  name  of  Celestina.  The  piece, 
although  comic,  or  rather  sentimental  in  its  progress,  termi- 
nates in  the  most  tragical  catastrophe,  in  which  all  the  prin- 
cipal actors  are  involved.  The  general  texture  of  the  plot  is 
exceedingly  clumsy,  yet  it  affords  many  situations  of  deep 
and  varied  interest  in  its  progress.  The  principal  characters 
are  delineated  in  the  piece  with  considerable  skill.  The  part 
of  Celestina,  in  particular,  in  which  a veil  of  plausible  hy- 
pocrisy is  thrown  over  the  deepest  profligacy  of  conduct,  is 
managed  with  much  address.  The  subordinate  parts  are 
brought  into  brisk  comic  action,  with  natural  dialogue, 
though  sufficiently  obscene;  and  an  interest  of  a graver  com- 
plexion is  raised  by  the  passion  of  the  lovers,  the  timid,  con- 
fiding tenderness  of  the  lady,  and  the  sorrows  of  the  broken- 
hearted parent.  The  execution  of  the  play  reminds  us  on  the 


400 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


whole  less  of  the  Spanish,  than  of  the  old  English  theatre, 
in  many  of  its  defects,  as  well  as  beauties;  in  the  contrasted 
strength  and  imbecility  of  various  passages;  its  intermixture 
of  broad  farce  and  deep  tragedy;  the  unseasonable  introduc- 
tion of  frigid  metaphor  and  pedantic  allusion  in  the  midst  of 
the  most  passionate  discourses;  in  the  unveiled  voluptuous- 
ness of  its  coloring,  occasionally  too  gross  for  any  public 
exhibition;  but,  above  all,  in  the  general  strength  and  fidelity 
of  its  portraiture. 

The  tragicomedy,  as  it  is  styled,  of  Celestina,  was  obvi- 
ously never  intended  for  representation,  to  which,  not  merely 
the  grossness  of  some  of  the  details,  but  the  length  and  ar- 
rangement of  the  piece,  are  unsuitable.  But,  notwithstand- 
ing this,  and  its  approximation  to  the  character  of  a romance, 
it  must  be  admitted  to  contain  within  itself  the  essential  ele- 
ments of  dramatic  composition;  and,  as  such,  is  extolled  by 
the  Spanish  critics,  as  opening  the  theatrical  career  of  Europe. 
A similar  claim  has  been  maintained  for  nearly  contempo- 
raneous productions  in  other  countries,  and  especially  for 
Politian’s  “Orfeo,”  which,  there  is  little  doubt,  was  publicly 
acted  before  1483.  Notwithstanding  its  representation,  how- 
ever, the  “Orfeo,”  presenting  a combination  of  the  eclogue 
and  the  ode,  without  any  proper  theatrical  movement,  or 
attempt  at  development  of  character,  cannot  fairly  come 
within  the  limits  of  dramatic  writing.  A more  ancient  exam- 
ple than  either,  at  least  as  far  as  the  exterior  forms  are  con- 
cerned, may  be  probably  found  in  the  celebrated  French 
farce  of  Pierre  Pathelin,  printed  as  early  as  1474,  having 
been  repeatedly  played  during  the  preceding  century,  and 
which,  with  the  requisite  modifications,  still  keeps  possession 
of  the  stage.  The  pretensions  of  this  piece,  however,  as  a 
work  of  art,  are  comparatively  humble;  and  it  seems  fair  to 
admit,  that  in  the  higher  and  more  important  elements  of 
dramatic  composition,  and  especially  in  the  delicate,  and  at 
the  same  time  powerful  delineation  of  character  and  passion, 
the  Spanish  critics  may  be  justified  in  regarding  the  “Celes- 
tina” as  having  led  the  way  in  modern  Europe.37 

Without  deciding  on  its  proper  classification  as  a work  of 
art,  however,  its  real  merits  are  settled  by  its  wide  popularity, 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  It  has  been  translated  into  most 
of  the  European  languages,  and  the  preface  to  the  last  edi- 
tion published  in  Madrid,  so  recently  as  1822,  enumerates 
thirty  editions  of  it  in  Spain  alone,  in  the  course  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Impressions  were  multiplied  in  Italy,  and 
at  the  very  time  when  it  was  interdicted  at  home  on  the  score 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


401 


of  its  immoral  tendency.  A popularity  thus  extending  through 
distant  ages  and  nations,  shows  how  faithfully  it  is  built  on 
the  principles  of  human  nature.38 

The  drama  assumed  the  pastoral  form,  in  its  early  stages, 
in  Spain,  as  in  Italy.  The  oldest  specimens  in  this  way, 
which  have  come  down  to  us,  are  the  productions  of  Juan 
de  la  Encina,  a contemporary  of  Roxas.  He  was  born  in 
1469,  and,  after  completing  his  education  at  Salamanca,  was 
received  into  the  family  of  the  duke  of  Alva.  He  continued 
there  several  years,  employed  in  the  composition  of  various 
poetical  works,  among  others,  a version  of  Virgil’s  Eclogues, 
which  he  so  altered  as  to  accommodate  them  to  the  principal 
events  in  the  reign  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  He  visited 
Italy  in  the  beginning  of  the  following  century,  and  was 
attracted  by  the  munificent  patronage  of  Leo*the  Tenth  to  fix 
his  residence  at  the  papal  court.  While  there,  he  continued 
his  literary  labors.  He  embraced  the  ecclesiastical  profes- 
sion;  and  his  skill  in  music  recommended  him  to  the  office 
of  principal  director  of  the  pontifical  chapel.  He  was  sub- 
sequently presented  with  the  priory  of  Leon,  and  returned 
to  Spain,  where  he  died  in  1534. 39 

Enema’s  works  first  appeared  at  Salamanca,  in  1496,  col- 
lected into  one  volume,  folio.40  Besides  other  poetry,  they 
comprehend  a number  of  dramatic  eclogues,  sacred  and  pro- 
fane; the  former,  suggested  by  topics  drawn  from  Scripture, 
like  the  ancient  mysteries;  the  latter,  chiefly  amatory.  They 
were  performed  in  the  palace  of  his  patron,  the  duke  of  Alva, 
in  the  presence  of  Prince  John,  the  duke  of  Infantado,  and 
other  eminent  persons  of  the  court;  and  the  poet  himself 
occasionally  assisted  at  the  representation.41 

Encina’s  eclogues  are  simple  compositions,  with  little  pre- 
tence to  dramatic  artifice.  The  story  is  too  meagre  to  admit 
of  much  ingenuity  or  contrivance,  or  to  excite  any  depth  of 
interest.  There  are  few  interlocutors,  seldom  more  than 
three  or  four,  although  on  one  occasion  rising  to  as  many 
as  seven;  of  course  there  is  little  scope  for  theatrical  action. 
The  characters  are  of  the  humble  class  belonging  to  pastoral 
life,  and  the  dialogue,  which'  is  extremely  appropriate,  is 
conducted  with  facility;  but  the  rustic  condition  of  the  speak- 
ers precludes  any  thing  like  literary  elegance  or  finish,  in 
which  respect  they  are  doubtless  surpassed  by  some  of  his 
more  ambitious  compositions.  There  is  a comic  air  imparted 
to  them,  however,  and  a lively  colloquial  turn,  which  renders 
them  very  agreeable.  Still,  whatever  be  their  merits  as  pas- 
torals, they  are  entitled  to  little  consideration  as  specimens 


4°2 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


of  dramatic  art;  and,  in  the  vital  spirit  of  dramatic  composi- 
tion, must  be  regarded  as  far  inferior  to  the  “Celestina.” 
The  simplicity  of  these  productions,  and  the  facility  of  their 
exhibition,  which  required  little  theatrical  decoration  or  cos- 
tume, recommended  them  to  popular  imitation,  which  con- 
tinued long  after  the  regular  forms  of  the  drama  were  intro- 
duced into  Spain.42 

The  credit  of  this  introduction  belongs  to  Bartholomeo 
Torres  de  Naharro,  often  confounded  by  the  Castilian  writers 
themselves  with  a player  of  the  same  name,  who  flourished 
half  a century  later.43  Few  particulars  had  been  ascertained 
of  his  personal  history.  He  was  born  at  Torre,  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Estremadura.  In  the  early  part  of  his  life  he  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Algerines,  and  was  finally  released  from 
captivity  by  the  exertions  of  certain  benevolent  Italians,  who 
generously  paid  his  ransom.  He  then  established  his  resi- 
dence in  Italy,  at  the  court  of  Leo  the  Tenth.  Under  the 
genial  influence  of  that  patronage,  which  quickened  so  many 
of  the  seeds  of  genius  to  production  in  every  department,  he 
composed  his  “Propaladia,”  a work  embracing  a variety  of 
lyrical  and  dramatic  poetry,  first  published  at  Rome,  in  1517. 
Unfortunately,  the  caustic  satire,  levelled  in  some  of  the 
higher  pieces  of  this  collection  at  the  license  of  the  pontifical 
court,  brought  such  obloquy  on  the  head  of  the  author  as 
compelled  him  to  take  refuge  in  Naples,  where  he  remained 
under  the  protection  of  the  noble  family  of  Colonna.  No 
further  particulars  are  recorded  of  him  except  that  he  em- 
braced the  ecclesiastical  profession;  and  the  time  and  place 
of  his  death  are  alike  uncertain.  In  person  he  is  said  to  have 
been  comely,  with  an  amiable  disposition,  and  sedate  and 
dignified  demeanor.44 

His  “Propaladia,”  first  published  at  Rome,  passed  through 
several  editions  subsequently  in  Spain,  where  it  was  alter- 
nately prohibited,  or  permitted,  according  to  the  caprice  of 
the  Holy  Office.  It  contains,  among  other  things,  eight 
comedies,  written  in  the  native  redondillos ; which  continue 
to  be  regarded  as  the  suitable  measure  for  the  drama.  They 
afford  the  earliest  example  of  the  division  into  jornadas , or 
days,  and  of  the  introito , or  prologue,  in  which  the  author, 
after  propitiating  the  audience  by  suitable  compliment,  and 
witticisms  not  over  delicate,  gives  a view  of  the  length  and 
general  scope  of  his  play.45 

The  scenes  of  Naharro’s  comedies,  with  a single  exception, 
are  laid  in  Spain  and  Italy;  those  in  the  latter  country  pro- 
bably being  selected  with  reference  to  the  audiences  before 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY.  403 

whom  they  were  acted.  The  diction  is  easy  and  correct, 
without  much  affectation  of  refinement  or  rhetorical  orna- 
ment. The  dialogue,  especially  in  the  lower  parts,  is  sus- 
tained with  much  comic  vivacity;  indeed  Naharro  seems  to 
have  had  a nicer  perception  of  character  as  it  is  found  in 
lower  life,  than  as  it  exists  in  the  higher;  and  more  than  one 
of  his  plays  are  devoted  exclusively  to  its  illustration.  On 
some  occasions,  however,  the  author  assumes  a more  elevated 
tone,  and  his  verse  rises  to  a degree  of  poetic  beauty,  deep- 
ened by  the  moral  reflection  so  characteristic  of  the  Span- 
iards. At  other  times,  his  pieces  are  disfigured  by  such  a 
Babel-like  confusion  of  tongues,  as  makes  it  doubtful  which 
may  be  the  poet’s  vernacular.  French,  Spanish,  Italian, 
with  a variety  of  barbarous  patois , and  mongrel  Latin,  are  all 
brought  into  play  at  the  same  time,  and  all  comprehended, 
apparently  with  equal  facility,  by  each  one  of  the  draifiatis 
persona.  But  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  such  a jargon 
could  have  been  comprehended,  far  more  relished,  by  an 
Italian  audience.46 

Naharro’s  comedies  are  not  much  to  be  commended  for 
the  intrigue,  which  generally  excites  but  a languid  interest, 
and  shows  little  power  or  adroitness  in  the  contrivance.  With 
every  defect,  however,  they  must  be  allowed  to  have  given 
the  first  forms  to  Spanish  comedy,  and  to  exhibit  many  of 
the  features  which  continued  to  be  characteristic  of  it  in  a 
state  of  more  perfect  development  under  Lope  de  Vega  and 
Calderon.  Such,  for  instance,  is  the  amorous  jealousy,  and 
especially  the  point  of  honor,  so  conspicuous  on  the  Spanish 
theatre;  and  such,  too,  the  moral  confusion  .too  often  pro- 
duced by  blending  the  foulest  crimes  with  zeal  for  religion.47 
These  comedies,  moreover,  far  from  blind  conformity  with 
the  ancients,  discovered  much  of  the  spirit  of  independence, 
and  deviated  into  many  of  the  eccentricities  which  distinguish 
the  national  theatre  in  later  times;  and  which  the  criticism 
of  our  own  day  has  so  successfully  explained  and  defended 
on  philosophical  principles. 

Naharro’s  plays  were  represented,  as  appears  from  his 
prologue,  in  Italy,  probably  not  at  Rome,  which  he  quitted 
soon  after  their  publication,  but  at  Naples,  which,  then  form- 
ing a part  of  the  Spanish  dominions,  might  more  easily  fur- 
nish an  audience  capable  of  comprehending  them.48  It  is 
remarkable,  that  notwithstanding  their  repeated  editions  in 
Spain,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  ever  been  performed  there. 
The  cause  of  this,  probably,  was  the  low  state  of  the  histrio- 
nic art,  and  the  total  deficiency  in  theatrical  costume  and 


404 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


decoration;  yet  it  was  not  easy  to  dispense  with  these  in  the 
representation  of  pieces,  which  brought  more  than  a score  of 
persons  occasionally,  and  these  crowned  heads,  at  the  same 
time,  upon  the  stage.49 

Some  conception  may  be  afforded  of  the  lamentable  pov- 
erty of  the  theatrical  equipment,  from  the  account  given  of 
its  condition,  half  a century  later,  by  Cervantes.  “The 
whole  wardrobe  of  a manager  of  the  theatre,  at  that  time,’* 
says  he,  “was  contained  in  a single  sack,  and  amounted  only 
to  four  dresses  of  white  fur  trimmed  with  gilt  leather,  four 
beards,  four  wigs,  and  four  crooks,  more  or  less.  There 
were  no  trapdoors,  movable  clouds,  or  machinery  of  anv 
kind.  The  stage  itself  consisted  only  of  four  or  six  planks, 
placed  across  as  many  benches,  arranged  in  the  form  of  a 
square,  and  elevated  but  four  palms  from  the  ground.  The 
only  decoration  of  the  theatre  was  an  old  coverlet,  drawn 
from  side  to  side  by  cords,  behind  which  the  musicians  sang 
some  ancient  romance , without  the  guitar.’’60  In  fact,  no 
further  apparatus  was  employed  than  that  demanded  for  the 
exhibition  of  mysteries,  or  the  pastoral  dialogues  which  suc- 
ceeded them.  The  Spaniards,  notwithstanding  their  pre- 
cocity, compared  with  most  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  in  dra- 
matic art,  were  unaccountably  tardy  in  all  its  histrionic  ac- 
companiments. The  public  remained  content  with  such  poor 
mummeries,  as  could  be  got  up  by  stolling  players  and 
mountebanks.  There  was  no  fixed  theatre  in  Madrid  until 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century;  and  that  consisted 
of  a courtyard,  with  only  a roof  to  shelter  it,  while  the  spec- 
tators sat  on  benches  ranged  around,  or  at  the  windows  of  the 
surrounding  houses.51 

A similar  impulse  with  that  experienced  by  comic  writing, 
was  given  to  tragedy.  The  first  that  entered  on  this  depart- 
ment were  professed  scholars,  who  adopted  the  error  of  the 
Italian  dramatists,  in  fashioning  their  pieces  servilely  after 
the  antique,  instead  of  seizing  the  expression  of  their  own 
age.  The  most  conspicuous  attempts  in  this  way  were  made 
by  Fernan  Perez  de  Oliva.52  He  was  born  at  Cordova,  in 
1494,  and,  after  many  years  passed  in  the  various  schools  of 
Spain,  France,  and  Italy,  returned  to  his  native  land,  and 
became  a lecturer  in  the  university  of  Salamanca.  He  in- 
structed in  moral  philosophy  and  mathematics,  and  esta- 
blished the  highest  reputation  for  his  critical  acquaintance 
with  the  ancient  languages  and  his  own.  He  died  young, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-nine,  deeply  lamented  for  his  moral,  no 
less  than  for  his  intellectual  worth.53 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY.  405 

His  various  works  were  published  by  the  learned  Morales, 
his  nephew,  some  fifty  years  afer  his  death.  Arniong  them 
are  translations  in  prose  of  the  Electra  of  Sophocles,  and  the 
Hecuba  of  Euripides.  They  may  with  more  propriety  be 
termed  imitations,  and  those  too  of  the  freest  kind.  Although 
they  conform,  in  the  general  arrangement  and  progress  of  the 
story,  to  their  originals,  yet  characters,  nay  whole  scenes  and 
dialogues,  are  occasionally  omitted;  and  in  those  retained, 
it  is  not  always  easy  to  recognize  the  hand  of  the  Grecian 
artist,  whose  modest  beauties  are  thrown  into  shade  by  the 
ambitious  ones  of  his  imitator.54  But  with  all  this,  Oliva’s 
tragedies  must  be  admitted  to  be  executed,  on  the  whole, 
with  vigor;  and  the  diction,  notwithstanding  the  national 
tendency  to  exaggeration  above  alluded  to,  may  be  generally 
commended  for  decorum  and  an  imposing  dignity,  quite 
worthy  of  the  tragic  drama;  indeed,  they  may  be  selected  as 
affording  probably  the  best  specimen  of  the  progress  of  prose 
composition  during  the  present  reign.55 

Oliva’s  reputation  led  to  a similar  imitation  of  the  antique. 
But  the  Spaniards  were  too  national  in  all  their  tastes  to 
sanction  it.  These  classical  compositions  did  not  obtain 
possession  of  the  stage,  but  were  confined  to  the  closet,  serv- 
ing only  as  a relaxation  for  the  man  of  letters;  while  the 
voice  of  the  people  compelled  all  who  courted  it,  to  accom- 
modate their  inventions  to  those  romantic  forms,  which  were 
subsequently  developed  in  such  variety  of  beauty  by  the 
great  Spanish  dramatists.56 

We  have  now  surveyed  the  different  kinds  of  poetic  culture 
familiar  to  Spain  under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Their  most 
conspicuous  element  is  the  national  spirit  which  pervades 
them,  and  the  exclusive  attachment  which  they  manifest  to 
the  primitive  forms  of  versification  peculiar  to  the  Peninsula. 
The  most  remarkable  portion  of  this  body  of  poetry  may 
doubtless  be  considered  the  Spanish  romances , or  ballads; 
that  popular  minstrelsy,  which,  commemorating  the  pictur- 
esque and  chivalrous  incidents  of  the  age,  reflects  most  faith- 
fully the  romantic  genius  of  the  people,  who  gave  it  utterance. 
The  lyric  efforts  of  the  period  were  less  successful.  There 
were  few  elaborate  attempts  in  this  field,  indeed,  by  men  of 
decided  genius.  But  the  great  obstacle  may  be  found  in  the 
imperfection  of  the  language  and  the  deficiency  of  the  more 
exact  and  finished  metrical  forms,  indispensable  to  high 
poetic  execution. 

The  whole  period,  however,  comprehending,  as  it  does,  the 
first  decided  approaches  to  a regular  drama,  may  be  regarded 


40  6 


CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


as  very  important  in  a literary  aspect;  since  it  exhibits  the 
indigenous  peculiarities  of  Castilian  literature  in  all  their 
freshness,  and  shows  to  what  a degree  of  excellence  it  could 
attain,  while  untouched  by  any  foreign  influence.  The  pre- 
sent reign  may  be  regarded  as  the  epoch  which  divides  the 
ancient  from  the  modern  school  of  Spanish  poetry;  in  which 
the  language  was  slowly  but  steadily  undergoing  the  process 
of  refinement,  that  “made  the  knowledge  of  it,”  to  borrow 
the  words  of  a contemporary  critic,  “pass  for  an  elegant  ac- 
complishment, even  with  the  cavaliers  and  dames  of  culti- 
vated Italy;”  57  and  which  finally  gave  full  scope  to  the  poetic 
talent,  that  raised  the  literature  of  the  country  to  such  bril- 
iant  heights  in  the  sixteenth  century. 


I have  had  occasion  to  advert  more  than  once  in  the  course  of  this 
chapter,  to  the  superficial  acquaintance  of  the  Spanish  critics  with  the  early 
history  of  their  own  drama,  authentic  materials  for  which  are  so  extremely 
rare  and  difficult  of  access,  as  to  preclude  the  expectation  of  anything  like 
a satisfactory  account  of  it  out  of  the  Peninsula.  The  nearest  approach  to 
this  within  my  knowledge,  is  made  in  an  article  in  the  eight  number  of  the 
American  Quarterly  Review,  ascribed  to  Mr.  Ticknor,  late  Professor  of 
Modern  Literature  in  Harvard  University.  This  gentleman,  during  a resi- 
dence in  the  Peninsula,  had  every  facility  for  replenishing  his  library  with 
the  most  curious  and  valuable  works,  both  printed  and  manuscipt,  in  this 
department;  and  his  essay  embodies  in  a brief  compass  the  results  of  a 
well-directed  industry,  which  he  has  expanded  in  greater  detail  in  his  lectures 
on  Spanish  literature,  delivered  before  the  classes  of  the  University  The 
subject  is  discussed  with  his  usual  elegance  and  perspicuity  of  style;  and 
the  foreign,  and  indeed  Castlian  scholar,  m^y  find  much  novel  information 
there,  in  the  views  presented  of  the  early  progress  of  the  dramatic  and  the 
histrionic  art  in  the  Peninsula. 

Since  the  publication  of  this  article,  Moratin’s  treatise,  so  long  and  anx- 
iously expected,  “Orfgenes  del  Teatro  Espanol,”  has  made  its  appearance 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  History,  which  has  enriched 
the  national  literature  with  so  many  admirable  editions  of  its  ancient  au- 
thors. Moratin  states  in  his  Preface,  that  he  was  employed  from  his  ear- 
liest youth  in  collecting  notices,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  of  whatever 
might  illustrate  the  origin  of  the  Spanish  drama.  The  results  have  been 
two  volumes,  containing  in  the  First  Part  an  historical  discussion,  with 
ample  explanatory  notes,  and  a catalogue  of  dramatic  pieces  from  the  ear- 
iest  epoch  down  to  the  time  of  Lope  de  Vega,  chronologically  arranged, 
and  accompanied  with  critical  analyses,  and  copious  illustrative  extracts 
from  pieces  of  the  greatest  merit.  The  Second  Part  is  devoted  to  the  pub- 
lication of  entire  pieces  of  various  authors,  which  from  their  extreme  rarity, 
or  their  existence  only  in  manuscript,  have  had  but  little  circulation.  The 
selections  throughout  are  made  with  that  careful  discrimination,  which  re- 
sulted from  poetic  talent  combined  with  extensive  and  thorough  -erudition. 
The  criticisms,  although  sometimes  warped  by  the  peculiar  dramatic  prin- 
ciples of  the  author,  are  conducted  in  general  with  great  fairness;  and  am- 


ROMANTIC  FICTION  AND  POETRY. 


407 


pie,  but  not  extravagant,  commendation  is  bestowed  on  productions,  whose 
merit,  to  be  pioperly  appreciated,  must  be  weighed  by  one  conversant  with 
the  character  and  intellectual  culture  of  the  period.  The  work  unfortu- 
nately did  not  receive  the  last  touches  of  its  author,  and  undoubtedly  some- 
thing may  be  found  wanting  to  the  full  completion  of  his  design.  On  the 
whole,  it  must  be  considered  as  a rich  repertory  of  old  Castilian  literature, 
much  of  it  of  the  most  rare  and  recondite  nature,  directed  to  the  illustration 
of  a department,  that  has  hitherto  been  suffered  to  languish  in  the  lowest 
obscurity,  but  which  is  now  so  arranged  that  it  may  be  contemplated,  as 
it  were,  under  one  aspect,  and  its  real  merits  accurately  determined. 


AUTHOR’S  NOTES 


INTRODUCTION. 


1 Aragon  was  formally  released  from 
this  homage  in  1177,  and  Portugal  in  12(54, 
(Marina,  Historia  General  de  Espana, 
[Madrid,  1780,]  lib.  11,  cap.  14  ; lib.  13,  cap. 
20.)  The  king  of  Granada,  Aben  Alah- 
mar,  swore  fealty  to  St.  Ferdinand,  in 
1245,  binding  himself  to  the  payment  of 
an  annual  rent,  to  serve  under  him  with  a 
stipulated  number  of  his  knights  in  war, 
and  personally  attend  Cortes  when  sum- 
moned ; — a whimsical  stipulation  this  for 
a Mahometan  prince.  Conde,  Historia  de 
la  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes  en  Espaiia, 
(Madrid,  1820,  1821,)  tom.  iii.  cap.  30. 

2 Navarre  was  too  inconsiderable,  and 
bore  too  near  a resemblance  in  its  govern- 
ment to  the  other  Peninsular  kingdoms, 
to  require  a separate  notice  ; for  which, 
indeed,  the  national  writers  afford  but 
very  scanty  materials.  The  Moorish  em- 
pire of  Granada,  so  interesting  in  itself, 
and  so  dissimilar,  in  all  respects,  to  Chris- 
tian Spain,  merits  particular  attention.  I 
have  deferred  the  consideration  of  it, 
however,  to  that  period  of  the  history 
which  is  occupied  with  its  subversion. 
See  Part  I.,  Chapter  8. 

3 See  the  Canons  of  the  fifth  Council  of 
Toledo.  Florez,  Espana  Sagrada,  (Mad- 
rid, 1747-1776,)  tom.  vi.  p.  168. 

4 Recesvinto,  in  order  more  effectually 
to  bring  about  the  consolidation  of  his 
Gothic  and  Roman  subjects  into  one  na- 
tion, abrogated  the  law  prohibiting  their 
intermarriage.  The  terms  in  which  his 
enactment  is  conceived,  disclose  a far 
more  enlightened  policy  than  that  pur- 
sued either  by  the  Franks  or  Lombards. 
(See  the  Fuero  Juzgo,  [ed.  de  la  Acad., 
Madrid,  1815,]  lib.  3,  tit.  1,  ley  1.)— The 
Visigothic  code,  Fuero  Juzgo,  (Forum 
Judicum,)  originally  compiled  in  Latin, 
was  translated  into  Spanish  under  St. 
Ferdinand  ; a copy  of  which  version  was 
first  printed  in  1600,  at  Madrid.  (Los 
Doctores  Asso  y Manuel,  Instituciones 
del  Derecho  Civil  de  Castilla,  [Madrid, 
1792,]  pp.  6,  7.)  A second  edition,  under 
the  supervision  of  the  Royal  Spanish 


Academy,  was  published  in  1815.  This 
compilation,  notwithstanding  the  appa- 
rent rudeness  and  even  ferocity  of  some 
of  its  features,  may  be  said  to  have 
formed  the  basis  of  all  the  subsequent 
legislation  of  Castile.  It  was,  doubtless, 
the  exclusive  contemplation  of  these  feat- 
ures, which  brought  upon  these  laws  the 
sweeping  condemnation  of  Montesquieu, 
as  “pueriles,  gauches,  idiotes, — frivoles 
dans  le  fond  et  gigantesques  dans  le 
style.”  Esprit  des  Loix,  liv.  28,  chap.  1. 

G Some  of  the  local  usages,  afterwards 
incorporated  in  the  fueros , or  charters, 
of  the  Castilian  communities,  may  prob- 
ably be  derived  from  the  time  of  the  Visi- 
goths. The  English  reader  may  form  a 
good  idea  of  the  tenor  of  the  legal  insti- 
tutions of  this  people  and  their  immediate 
descendants,  from  an  article  in  the  sixty- 
first  Number  of  the  Edinburgh  Review. 
written  with  equal  learning  and  vivacity. 

6 The  Christians,  in  all  matters  exclu- 
sively relating  to  themselves,  were  gov- 
erned by  their  own  laws,  (See  the  Fuero 
Juzgo,  Introd.  p.  40,)  administered  by 
their  own  judges,  subject  only  in  capital 
cases  to  an  appeal  to  the  Moorish  tribu- 
nals. Their  churches  and  monasteries 
(rosce  inter  spinas , says  the  historian) 
were  scattered  over  the  principal  towns, 
Cordova  retaining  seven,  Toledo  six,  etc. ; 
and  their  clergy  were  allowed  to  display 
the  costume,  and  celebrate  the  pompous 
ceremonial,  as  the  Romish  communion. 
Florez,  Espana  Sagrada,  tom.  x.  trat.  33, 
cap.  7.-  Morales,  Cordnica  General  de 
Espafia,  (Obras,  Madrid,  1791-1793,)  lib. 
12,  cap.  78.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  part.  1,  cap.  15,  22. 

7 Morales,  Cor6nica,  lib.  12,  cap.  77. — 
Yet  the  names  of  several  nobles  resident 
among  the  Moors  appear  in  the  record  of 
those  times.  (See  Salazar  de  Mendoza, 
Monarquia  de  Espana,  [Madrid,  1770,] 
tom.  i.  p.  34,  note.)  If  we  could  rely  on  a 
singular  fact,  quoted  by  Zurita,  we  might 
infer  that  a large  proportion  of  the  Goths 
were  content  to  reside  among  their  Sara- 


410 


INTRODUCTION. 


[SEC.  I. 


cen  conquerors.  The  intermarriages 
among  the  two  nations  had  been  so  fre- 
quent, that,  in  1311,  the  ambassador  of 
James  II.,  of  Aragon,  stated  to  his  Holi- 
ness, Pope  Clement  V.,  that  of  200,000 
persons  composing  the  population  of 
Granada,  not  more  than  500  were  of  pure 
Moorish  descent!  (Anales  de  la  Corona 
de  Aragon,  [Zaragoza,  1G10,]  lib.  5.  cap. 
93.)  As  the  object  of  the  statement  was 
to  obtain  certain  ecclesiastical  aids  from 
the  pontiff,  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
Moorish  war,  it  appears  very  suspicious, 
notwithstanding  the  emphasis  laid  on  it 
by  the  historian. 

8 Bleda,  Coronica  de  los  Moros  de  Es- 
pana, (Valencia,  1618,)  p.  171.— This  au- 
thor states,  that  in  his  time  there  were 
several  families  in  Ireland,  whose  patron- 
ymics bore  testimony  to  their  descent 
from  these  Spanish  exiles.  That  careful 
antiquarian,  Morales,  considers  the  re- 
gions of  the  Pyrenees  lying  betwixt  Ara- 
gon and  Navarre,  together  with  the  As- 
turias, Biscay,  Guipuscoa,  the  northern 
portion  of  Galicia  and  the  Alpuxarras, 
(the  last  retreat,  too,  of  the  Moors,  under 
the  Christian  domination.)  to  have  been 
untouched  by  the  Saracen  invaders.  (See 
lib.  12,  cap.  76. 

9 The  lot  of  the  Visigothic  slave  was 
sufficiently  hard.  The  oppressions,  which 
this  unhappy  race  endured,  were  such  as 
to  lead  Mr.  Southey,  in  his  excellent  In- 
troduction to  the  “ Chronicle  of  the  Cid,” 
to  impute  to  their  cooperation,  in  part, 
the  easy  conquest  of  the  country  by  the 
Arabs.  But,  although  the  laws,  in  rela- 
tion to  them,  seem  to  be  taken  up  with 
determining  their  incapacities  rather 
than  their  privileges,  it  is  probable  that 
they  secured  to  them,  on  the  whole,  quite 
as  great  a degree  of  civil  consequence,  as 
was  enjoyed  by  similar  classes  in  the  rest 
of  Europe.  By  the  Fuero  Juzgo,  the 
slave  was  allowed  to  acquire  property  for 
himself,  and  with  it  to  purchase  his  own 
redemption.  (Lib.  5,  tit.  4,  ley  16.)  A 
certain  proportion  of  every  man’s  slaves 
were  also  required  to  bear  arms,  and  to 
accompany  their  master  to  the  field. 
(Lib.  9,  tit.  2,  ley  8.)  But  their  relative 
rank  is  better  ascertained  by  the  amount 
of  composition  (that  accurate  measure- 
ment of  civil  rights  with  all  the  barbari- 
ans of  the  north)  prescribed  for  any  per- 
sonal violence  inflicted  on  them.  Thus, 
by  the  Salic  law,  the  life  of  a free  Roman 
was  estimated  at  only  one-fifth  of  that  of 
a Frank,  (Lex  Salica,  tit.  43,  sec.  1,  8;) 


while,  by  the  law  of  the  Visigoths,  the 
life  of  a slave  was  valued  at  half  of  that 
of  a freeman,  (lib.  6,  tit.  4,  ley  1.)  In  the 
latter  code,  moreover,  the  master  was 
prohibited,  under  the  severe  penalties  of 
banishment  and  sequestration  of  proper' 
ty,  from  either  maiming  or  murdering 
his  own  slave,  (lib.  6,  tit.  5,  leyes  12,  13;) 
while,  in  other  codes  of  the  barbarians, 
the  penalty  was  confined  to  similar  tres- 
passes on  the  slaves  of  another;  and,  by 
the  Salic  law,  no  higher  mulct  was  im- 
posed for  killing,  than  for  kidnapping  a 
slave.  (Lex  Salica,  tit.  11,  sec.  1,  3.)  THe 
legislation  of  the  Visigoths,  in  those  par- 
ticulars, seems  to  have  regarded  this  un- 
happy race  as  not  merely  a distinct  spe- 
cies of  property.  It  provided  for  their 
personal  security,  instead  of  limiting  it- 
self to  the  indemnification  of  their  mas- 
ters. 

10  Coronica  General,  part.  3,  fol.  54. 

1 1 According  to  Morales,  (Cordnica,  lib. 
13,  cap.  57,)  this  took  place  about  850. 

12  Toledo  was  not  reconquered  until 
1085  ; Lisbon,  in  1147. 

13  The  archbishops  of  Toledo,  whose 
revenues  and  retinues  far  exceeded  those 
of  the  other  ecclesiastics,  were  particu- 
larly conspicuous  in  these  holy  wars. 
Marina,  speaking  of  one  of  these  bellig- 
erent prelates,  considers  it  worthy  of  en- 
comium, that  “it  is  not  easy  to  decide 
whether  he  was  most  conspicuous  for  his 
good  government  in  peace,  or  his  conduct 
and  valor  in  war,”  Hist,  de  Espana, 
tom.  ii.  p.  14. 

14  The  first  occasion,  on  which  the  mili- 
tary apostle  condescended  to  reveal  him- 
self to  the  Leonese,  was  the  memorable 
day  of  Clavijo,  A.  D.  844,  when  70,000  in- 
fidels fell  on  the  field.  From  that  time, 
the  name  of  St.  Jago,  became  the  battle- 
cry  of  the  Spaniards.  The  truth  of  the 
story  is  attested  by  a contemporary  char- 
ter of  Ramiro  I.  to  the  church  of  the 
saint,  granting  it  an  annual  tribute  of 
corn  and  wine  from  the  towns  in  his  do- 
minions, and  a knight’s  portion  of  the 
spoils  of  every  victory  over  the  Mussul- 
mans. The  privilegio  del  voto , as  it  is 
called,  is  given  at  length  by  Florez  in  his 
Collection,  (Espana  Sagrada,  tom.  xix.  p. 
329,)  and  is  unhesitatingly  cited  by  most 
of  the  Spanish  historians,  as  Garibay, 
Mariana,  Morales,  and  others.  — More 
sharp-sighted  critics  discover,  in  its  ana- 
chronisms, and  other  palpable  blunders, 
ample  evidence  of  its  forgery.  (Monde- 

! jar,  Advertencias  fi  la  Historia  de  Mari- 


INTRODUCTION. 


411 


SEC.  I.] 


na  [Valencia,  1746,]  no.  157, — Masdeu, 
Historia  Critica  de  Espana,  y de  la  Cul- 
tura  Espanoia,  [Madrid,  1783-1805,]  tom. 
xvi.  supl.  18.)  The  Canons  of  Compos- 
tella,  however,  seem  to  have  found  their 
account  in  it,  as  the  tribute  of  good  cheer, 
which  it  imposed,  continued  to  be  paid 
by  some  of  the  Castilian  towns,  according 
to  Marina,  in  his  day.  Hist,  de  Espana, 
tom.  i.  p.  416. 

16  French,  Flemish,  Italian,  and  Eng- 
lish volunteers,  led  by  men  of  distin- 
guished rank,  are  recorded  by  the  Span- 
ish writers  to  have  been  present  at  the 
sieges  of  Toledo,  Lisbon,  Algeziras,  and 
various  others.  More  than  sixty,  or,  as 
some  accounts  state,  a hundred  thou- 
sand, joined  the  army  before  the  battle 
of  Navas  de  Tolosa ; a round  exagera- 
tion,  which,  however,  implies  the  great 
number  of  such  auxiliaries.  (Garibay, 
Compendio  Historial  de  las  Chrdnicas  de 
Espaila,  [Barcelona,  1628,]  lib.  12,  cap.  33.) 
The  crusades  in  Spain  were  as  rational 
enterprises,  as  those  in  the  East  were 
vain  and  chimerical.  Pope  Pascal  II. 
acted  like  a man  of  sense,  when  he  sent 
back  certain  Spanish  adventurers,  who 
had  embarked  in  the  wars  of  Palestine, 
telling  them,  that  “ the  cause  of  religion 
could  be  much  better  served  by  them  at 
home.” 

16  See  Heeren,  Politics  of  Ancient 
Greece,  translated  by  Bancroft,  chap.  7. 

17  The  oldest  manuscript  extant  of  this 
poem,  (still  preserved  at  Bivar,  the  hero’s 
birth-place,)  bears  the  date  of  1207,  or  at 
latest  1307,  for  there  is  some  obscurity  in 
the  writing.  Its  learned  editor,  Sanchez, 
has  been  lead  by  the  peculiarities  of  its 
orthography,  metre,  and  idiom,  to  refer 
its  composition  to  as  early  a date  as  1153. 
(Coleccion  de  Poesias  Castellanas  ante- 
riores  al  Siglo  XV.  [Madrid,  1779-90,]  tom. 
i.  p.  223.)  Some  of  the  late  Spanish  anti- 
quaries have  manifested  a skepticism  in 
relation  to  the  “Cid,”  truly  alarming. 
A volume  was  published  at  Madrid,  in 
1792,  by  Risco,  under  the  title  of  “Cas- 
tilla, o Historia  de  Rodrigo  Diaz,”  etc., 
which  the  worthy  father  ushered  into  the 
world  with  much  solemnity,  as  a trans- 
cript of  an  original  manuscript  coeval 
with  the  time  of  the  “Cid,”  and  fortu- 
nately discovered  by  him  in  an  obscure 
corner  of  some  Leonese  monastery. 
(Prdlogo.)  Masdeu,  in  an  analysis  of  this 
precious  document,  has  been  lead  to  scru- 
tinize the  grounds,  on  which  the  reputed 
achievements  of  the  ‘ ‘ Cid  ’ ’ have  rested 


from  time  immemorial,  and  concludes 
with  the  startling  assertion,  that  “of 
Rodrigo  Diaz,  el  Campeador,  we  abso- 
lutely know  nothing,  with  any  degree  of 
probability,  not  even  his  existence!” 
(Hist.  Critica,  tom.  xx.  p.  370.)  There  are 
probably  few  of  his  countrymen,  that 
will  thus  coolly  acquiesce  in  the  annihila- 
tion of  their  favorite  hero,  whose  exploits 
have  been  the  burden  of  chronicle,  as 
well  as  romance,  from  the  twelfth  century 
down  to  the  present  day.  They  may  find 
a wrarrant  for  their  fond  credulity,  in 
the  dispassionate  judgment  of  one  of  the 
greatest  of  modern  historians,  John 
Muller,  who,  so  far  from  doubting  the  ex- 
istence of  the  Campeador,  has  succeeded, 
in  his  own  opinion  at  least,  in  clearing 
from  his  history  the  “mists  of  fable  and 
extravagance,”  in  which  it  has  been 
shrouded.  See  his  Life  of  the  Cid,  ap- 
pended to  Escobar’s  “Romancero,"  edi- 
ted by  the  learned  and  estimable  Dr.  Ju- 
lius, of  Berlin.  Frankfort,  1828. 

18  A modern  minstrel  inveighs  loudly 
against  this  charity  of  his  ancestors,  who 
devoted  their  “cantos  de  cigarra,”  to 
the  glorification  of  this  “ Moorish  rabble,” 
instead  of  celebrating  the  prowess  of  the 
Cid,  Bernardo,  and  other  worthies  of  their 
own  nation.  His  discourtesy,  however, 
is  well  rebuked  by  a more  generous 
brother  of  the  craft. 

“ No  es  culpa  si  de  los  Moros 
los  valientes  liechos  cantan. 
pues  tanto  mas  resplandecen 
uuestras  celebres  hazanas ; 
que  el  encarccer  los  hechos 
del  vcncido  cn  la  bat  alia, 
engrandece  al  vencedor, 
aunque  no  hablcn  de  el  palabra.” 

Duran,  Romancero  de  Romances 
Moriscos,  (Madrid,  1828,)  p.  227. 

1 9 When  the  empress  queen  of  Alfonso 
VII.  was  besieged  in  the  castle  of  Azeca, 
in  1139,  she  reproached  the  Moslem  cava- 
liers for  their  want  of  courtesy  and  cour- 
age in  attacking  a fortress  defended  by  a 
female.  They  acknowledged  the  justice 
of  the  rebuke,  and  only  requested  that 
she  would  condescend  to  show  herself  to 
them  from  her  palace;  when  the  Moorish 
chivalry,  after  paying  their  obeisance  to 
her  in  the  most  respectful  manner,  in- 
stantly raised  the  siege,  and  departed. 
(Ferreras,  Histoire  Gen6rale  d’Espagne, 
traduite  par  d’Hermilly,  [Paris,  1742-51,] 
tom.  iii.  p.  410.)  It  was  a frequent  occur- 
rence to  restore  a noble  captive  to  liberty 
without  ransom,  and  even  with  costly 
presents.  Thus  Alfonso  XI.  sent  back  to 
their  father  two  daughters  of  a Moorish 


412 


INTRODUCTION. 


[SEC.  I. 


prince,  who  formed  part  of  the  spoils  of 
the  battle  of  Tarifa.  (Marina,  Hist,  de 
Espana,  tom.  ii.  p.  32.)  When  this  same 
Castilian  sovereign,  after  a career  of  al- 
most uninterrupted  victory  over  the  Mos- 
lems, died  of  the  plague  before  Gibraltar, 
in  1350,  the  knights  of  Granada  put  on 
mourning  for  him,  saying,  that  “ he  was 
a noble  prince,  and  one  that  knew  how 
to  honor  his  enemies  as  well  as  his 
Iriends.”  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  tom.  iii.  p.  149. 

20  One  of  the  most  extraordinary 
achievements,  in  this  way,  was  that  of  the 
grand  master  of  Alcantara,  in  1394,  who, 
after  ineffectually  challenging  the  king 
of  Granada  to  meet  him  in  single  combat, 
or  with  a force  double  that  of  his  own, 
marched  boldly  up  to  the  gates  of  his 
capital,  where  he  was  assailed  by  such  an 
overwhelming  host,  that  he  with  all  his 
little  band  perished  on  the  field.  (Ma- 
rina, Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  19,  cap.  3.)  It 
was  over  this  worthy  compeer  of  Don 
Quixote,  that  the  epitaph  was  inscribed, 
“Here  lies  one  who  never  knew  fear,” 
which  led  Charles  V.  to  remark  to  one  of 
his  courtiers,  that  “the  good  knight 
could  never  have  tried  to  snuff  a candle 
with  his  fingers.” 

21  This  singular  fact,  of  the  existence 
of  an  Arabic  military  order,  is  recorded 
by  Conde.  (Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  i.  p.  G19,  note.)  The  brethren  were 
distinguished  for  the  simplicity  of  their 
attire,  and  their  austere  and  frugal  hab- 
its. They  were  stationed  on  the  Moorish 
marches,  and  were  bound  by  a vow  of 
perpetual  war  against  the  Christian  infi- 
del. As  their  existence  is  traced  as  far 
back  as  1030,  they  may  possibly  have  sug-  j 
gested  the  organization  of  similar  institu- 
tions in  Christendom,  wrhich  they  pre- 
ceded by  a century  at  least.  The  royal 
historians  of  the  Spanish  military  orders, 
it  is  true,  would  carry  that  of  St.  Jago  as 
far  back  as  the  time  of  Ramiro  I.,  in  the 
ninth  century;  (Caro  de  Torres,  Historia 
de  las  Ordenes  Militares  de  Santiago, 
Calatrava,  y Alcantara,  [Madrid,  1629,] 
fol.  2.— Rades  y Andrada,  Chronica  delas 
Tres  Ordenes  y Cavallerias,  [Toledo,  1572,] 
fol.  4.)  but  less  prejudiced  critics,  as 
Zurita  and  Marina,  are  content  with  dat- 
ing it  from  the  papal  bull  of  Alexander 
III.,  1175. 

22  In  one  of  the  Paston  letters,  we  find 
the  notice  of  a Spanish  knight  appearing 
at  the  court  of  Henry  VI.,  “ wytli  a Ker- 
cheff  of  riesaunce  i wrapped  aboute  liys 


arme,  the  gwych  Knight,”  says  the  wri- 
ter, “ wyl  renne  a cours  wyth  a sharpe 
spere  for  his  sou’eyn  lady  sake.”  (Feim, 
Original  Letters,  [1787,]  vol.  i.  p.  6.)  The 
practice  of  using  sharp  spears,  instead  of 
the  guarded  and  blunted  weapons  usual 
in  the  tournament,  seems  to  have  been 
affected  by  the  chivalrous  nobles  of  Cas- 
tile; many  of  whom,  says  the  Chronicle 
of  Juan  II.,  lost  their  lives  from  this  cir- 
cumstance, in  the  splendid  tourney  given 
in  honor  of  the  nuptials  of  Blanche  of 
Navarre  and  Henry,  son  of  John  II. 
(Crdnica  de  D.  Juan  II.,  [Valencia,  1779,] 
p.  411.)  Monstrelet  records  the  adventures 
of  a Spanish  cavalier,  who  “ travelled  all 
the  way  to  the  court  of  Burgundy  to  seek 
honor  and  reverence”  by  his  feats  of 
arms.  His  antagonist  was  the  Lord  of 
Chargny;  on  the  second  day  they  fought 
with  battle-axes,  and  “the  Castilian  ah 
tracted  general  admiration,  by  his  un- 
common daring  in  fighting  with  his  visor 
up.”  Chroniques,  (Paris,  1595,)  tom.  it 
p.  109. 

23  The  Venetian  ambassador,  Navagk 
ro,  speaking  of  the  manners  of  the  Cat 
tilian  nobles,  in  Charles  V.’s  time,  re 
marks  somewhat  bluntly,  that,  “if  theii 
power  were  equal  to  their  pride,  the 
whole  world  would  not  be  able  to  with- 
stand them.”  Viaggio  fatto  in  Spagna 
et  in  Francia,  (Vinegia,  1563,)  fol.  10. 

24  The  most  ancient  of  these  regular 
charters  of  incorporation,  now  extant, 
was  granted  by  Alfonso  V.,  in  1020,  to  the 
city  of  Leon  and  its  territory.  (Marina 
rejects  those  of  an  earlier  date,  adduced 
by  Asso  and  Manuel  and  other  writers. 
Ensayo  Historico-Crltico,  sobre  la  Anti- 
gua Legislacion  de  Castilla,  [Madrid, 
1808,]  pp.  80-82.)  It  preceded,  by  a long 
interval,  those  granted  to  the  burgesses 
in  other  parts  of  Europe,  with  the  excep- 
tion, perhaps,  of  Italy  ; where  several  of 
the  cities,  as  Milan,  Pavia,  and  Pisa,  seem 
early  in  the  eleventh  century  to  have  ex- 
ercised some  of  the  functions  of  indepen- 
dent states.  But  the  extent  of  municipal 
immunities  conceded  to,  or  rather  as- 
sumed by,  the  Italian  cities  at  this  early 
period,  is  very  equivocal ; for  their  inde- 
fatigable antiquarian  confesses  that  all, 
or  nearly  all  their  archives,  previous  to 
the  time  of  Frederic  I.,  (the  latter  part  of 
the  twelfth  century,)  had  perished  amid 
their  frequent  civil  convulsions.  (See  the 
subject  in  detail,  in  Muratori,  Dissertazi- 
oni  sopra  le  Antichita.  Italiane,  [Napoli, 
1752,]  dissert.  45.)  Acts  of  enfranchise- 


INTRODUCTION. 


413 


SEC.  I.] 

jnent  became  frequent  in  Spain  during 
the  eleventh  century ; several  of  which 
are  preserved,  and  exhibit,  with  sufficient 
precision,  the  nature  of  the  privileges  ac- 
corded to  the  inhabitants. — Robertson, 
who  wrote  when  the  constitutional  an- 
tiquities of  Castile  had  been  but  slightly 
investigated,  would  seem  to  have  little 
authority,  therefore,  for  deriving  the  es- 
tablishment of  communities  from  Italy, 
and  still  less  for  tracing  their  progress 
through  France  and  Germany  to  Spain. 
See  his  History  of  the  Reign  of  the  Em- 
peror Charles  V.,  (London,  1796,)  vol.  i. 
pp.  29,  30. 

25  For  this  account  of  the  ancient 
polity  of  the  Castilian  cities,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Sempere,  Histoire  des  Cortes 
d’Espagne,  (Bordeaux,  1815,)  and  Ma- 
rina’s valuable  works,  Ensayo  Histdrico- 
Crltico  sobre  la  Antigua  Legislacion  de 
Castilla,  (Nos.  160-196,)  and  Teoria  de  las 
Cortes,  (Madrid,  1813,  part.  2,  cap.  21-23,) 
where  the  meagre  outline  given  above  is 
filled  up  with  copious  illustration. 

26  The  independence  of  the  Lombard 
cities  had  been  sacrificed,  according  to 
the  admission  of  their  enthusiastic  his- 
torian, about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  Sismondi  Histoire  ^des  Rdpub- 
liques  Italiennes  du  Moyen-Age,  (Paris, 
1818,)  ch.  20.  s 

27  Or  in  1160,  according  to  the  Coronica 
General,  (part.  4,  fol.  344,  345,)  where  the 
fact  is  mentioned.  Marina  refers  this 
celebration  of  Cortes  to  1170,  (Hist,  de 
Espana,  lib.  11,  cap.  2 ;)  but  Ferreras, 
who  often  rectifies  the  chronological  in- 
accuracies of  his  predecessor,  fixes  it  in 
1169.  (Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  p.  484.) 
Neither  of  these  authors  notices  the 
presence  of  the  commons  in  this  assem- 
bly ; although  the  phrase  used  by  the 
Chronicle,  los  cibdadanos , is  perfectly 
unequivocal. 

28  Capmany,  Pr&ctica  y Estilo  de  Cele- 
brar  Cortes  en  Aragon,  Cataluiia,  y Va- 
lencia, (Madrid,  1821,)  pp.  230,  231. — 
Whether  the  convocation  of  the  third  es- 
tate to  the  national  councils  proceeded 
from  politic  calculation  in  the  sovereign, 
or  was  in  a manner  forced  on  him  by  the 
growing  power  and  importance  of  the 
cities,  it  is  now  too  late  to  inquire.  It  is 
nearly  as  difficult  to  settle  on  what  prin- 
ciples the  selection  of  cities  to  be  repre- 
sented depended.  Marina  asserts,  that 
every  great  town  and  community  was  en- 
titled to  a seat  in  the  legislature,  from  the 
time  of  receiving  its  municipal  charter 


from  the  sovereign,  (Teoria,  tom.  i.  p 
138  ;)  and  Sempere  agrees,  that  this  right 
became  general,  from  the  first,  to  all  who 
chose  to  avail  themselves  of  it.  (Histoire 
des  Cortes,  p.  56.)  The  right,  probably, 
was  not  much  insisted  on  by  the  smaller 
and  poorer  places,  which,  from  the 
charges  it  involved,  felt  it  often,  no  doubt, 
less  of  a boon  than  a burden.  This,  we 
know,  was  the  case  in  England. 

29  It  was  an  evil  of  scarcely  less  mag- 
nitude, that  contested  elections  were  set- 
tled by  the  crown.  (Capmany,  Pr&ctica 
y Estilo,  p.  231.)  The  latter  of  these  prac- 
tices, and,  indeed,  the  former  to  a certain 
extent,  are  to  be  met  with  in  English 
history. 

30  Marina  leaves  this  point  in  some  ob- 
scurity. (Teoria,  tom.  i.  cap.  28.)  In- 
deed, there  seems  to  have  been  some  ir- 
regularity in  the  parliamentary  usages 
themselves.  From  minutes  of  a meeting 
of  Cortes  at  Toledo,  in  1538,  too  soon  for 
any  material  innovation  on  the  ancient 
practice,  we  find  the  three  estates  sitting 
in  separate  chambers,  from  the  very  com- 
mencement to  the  close  of  the  session. 
See  the  account  drawn  up  by  the  Count 
of  Coruna,  apud  Capmany,  Pr&ctica  y 
Estilo,  pp.  240  et  seq. 

31  This,  however,  so  contrary  to  the 
analogy  of  other  European  governments, 
is  expressly  contradicted  by  the  declara- 
tion of  the  nobles,  at  the  Cortes  of  Toledo, 
in  1538.  “ Oida  esta  respuesta  se  dijo, 
que  pues  S.  M.  habia  dicho  que  no  eran 
C6rtes  ni  habia  Brazos,  no  podian  tratar 
cosa  alguna,  que  ellos  sin  procuradores , 
y los  procuradores  sin  ellos , no  seria 
vdlido  lo  que  hicieren.'1'1  Relacion  del 
Conde  de  Coruna  apud  Capmany,  Pr&c- 
tica  y Estilo,  p.  247. 

32  This  omission  of  the  privileged  or- 
ders was  almost  uniform  under  Charles 
V.  and  his  successors.  But  it  would  be 
unfair  to  seek  for  constitutional  prece- 
dent in  the  usages  of  a government, 
whose  avowed  policy  was  altogether  sub- 
versive of  the  constitution. 

33  During  the  famous  war  of  the  Com- 
unidades , under  Charles  V.  For  the  pre- 
ceding paragraph  consult  Marina,  (Teo- 
ria, part.  1,  cap.  10,  20,  26,  29,)  and  Cap- 
many.  (Prdctica  y Estilo,  pp.  220-250.) 
The  municipalities  of  Castile  seem  to 
have  reposed  but  a very  limited  confi- 
dence in  their  delegates,  whom  they 
furnished  with  instructions,  to  which 
they  were  bound  to  conform  themselves 


414 


INTRODUCTION. 


[SEC.  I. 


literally.  See  Marina,  Teorla,  part.  1, 
cap.  £3. 

34  The  term  “ fundamental  principle  ” 
is  fully  authorized  by  the  existence  of  re- 
peated enactments  to  this  effect.  Sem- 
pere,  who  admits  the  “usage,”  objects 
to  the  phrase  “ fundamental  law,”  on  the 
ground  that  these  acts  were  specific,  not 
general,  in  their  character.  Histoire  des 
Cortes,  p.  254. 

35  “ Los  Reyes  en  nuestros  Reynos  pro- 
genitores  establecieron  por  leyes,  y orde- 
nangas  f echas  en  Cortes,  que  no  se  echas- 
sen,  ni  repartiessen  ningunos  pechos, 
seruicios,  pedidos,  ni  monedas,  ni  otros 
tributos  nueuos,  especial,  ni  general- 
mente  en  todos  nuestros  Reynos,  sin  que 
primeramente  sean  llamados  a Cortes  los 
procuradores  de  todas  las  Ciudades,  y 
villas  de  nuestros  Reynos,  y sean  otorga- 
dos  por  los  dichos  procuradores  que  & las 
Cortes  vinieren.”  (Recopilacion  de  las 
Leyes,  [Madrid,  1840,]  tom.  ii.  fol.  124.) 
This  law,  passed  under  Alfonso  XI.,  was 
confirmed  by  John  II.,  Henry  III.,  and 
Charles  V. 

3G  In  1258,  they  presented  a variety  of 
petitions  to  the  king,  in  relation  to  his 
own  personal  expenditure,  as  well  as  that 
of  his  courtiers;  requiring  him  to  dimin- 
ish the  charges  of  his  table,  attire,  etc., 
and,  bluntly,  to  “bring  his  appetite  with- 
in a more  reasonable  compass;  ” to  all 
which  he  readily  gave  his  assent.  (Sem- 
pere  y Guarinos,  Historia  del  Luxo,  y de 
las  Leyes  Suntuarias  de  Espana,  [Madrid, 
1788,]  tom.  i.  pp.  91,  92.)  The  English 
reader  is  reminded  of  a very  different  re- 
sult, which  attended  a similar  interposi- 
tion of  the  commons  in  the  time  of  Rich- 
ard II.,  more  than  a century  later. 

37  Marina  claims  also  the  right  of  the 
Cortes  to  be  consulted  on  questions  of 
war  and  peace,  of  which  he  adduces  sev- 
eral precedents.  (Teoria,  part.  2,  cap.  19, 
20.)  Their  interference  in  what  is  so  gen- 
erally held  the  peculiar  province  of  the 
executive,  was  perhaps  encouraged  by 
the  sovereign,  with  the  politic  design  of 
relieving  himself  of  the  responsibility  of 
measures,  whose  success  must  depend 
eventually  on  their  support.  Hallam 
notices  a similar  policy  of  the  crown, 
under  Edward  III.,  in  his  view  of  the  Eng- 
lish constitution  during  the  middle  ages. 
View  of  the  State  of  Europe  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  (London,  1819,)  vol.  iii. 
chap.  8. 

33  The  recognition  of  the  title  of  the 
heir  apparent,  by  a Cortes  convoked  for 


that  purpose,  has  continued  to  be  ob- 
served in  Castile  down  to  the  present 
time.  Pr&ctica  y Estilo,  p.  229. 

39  For  the  preceding  notice  of  the 
Cortes,  see  Marina,  Teoria,  part.  2,  cap. 
13,  19,  20,  21,  31,  35,  37,  38. 

40  So  at  least  they  are  styled  by  Ma- 
rina. See  his  account  of  these  institu- 
tions; (Teoria,  part.  2,  cap.  39;)  also  Sala- 
zar de  Mendoza,  (Monarquia,  lib.  3,  cap. 
15, 16,)  andSempere,  (Histoire  des  Cortes, 
chap.  12,  13.)  One  hundred  cities  associa- 
ted in  the  Hermandad  of  1315.  In  that 
of  1295,  were  thirty-four.  The  knights 
and  inferior  nobility  frequently  made 
part  of  the  association.  The  articles  of 
confederation  are  given  by  Risco,  in  his 
continuation  of  Florez.  (Espaiia  Sagra- 
da,  [Madrid,  1775-1826,]  tom.  xxxvi.  p. 
162.)  In  one  of  these  articles  it  is  de- 
clared, that,  if  any  noble  shall  deprive  a 
member  of  the  association  of  his  proper- 
ty, and  refuse  restitution,  his  house  shall 
be  razed  to  the  ground.  (Art.  4.)  In 
another,  that  if  any  one,  by  command  of 
the  king,  shall  attempt  to  collect  an  un- 
lawful tax,  he  shall  be  put  to  death  on  the 
spot.  Art.  9. 

41  See  Sempere  Historia  del  Luxo,  tom. 
i.  p.  97. — Masdeu,  Hist.  Critica,  tom.  xiii. 
nos.  90,  91. — Gold  and  silver,  curiously 
wrought  into  plate,  were  exported  in 
considerable  quantities  from  Spain,  in 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries.  They 
were  much  used  in  the  churches.  The 
tiara  of  the  pope  was  so  richly  incrusted 
Mdth  the  precious  metals,  says  Masdeu,  as 
to  receive  the  name  of  Spanoclista.  The 
familiar  use  of  these  metals  as  ornaments 
of  dress  is  attested  by  the  ancient  poem 
of  the  “Cid.”  See,  in  particular,  the 
costume  of  the  Campeador;  vv.  3099  et 
seq. 

42  Zuniga,  Annales  Eclesi&sticos  y Se- 
culares  de  Seville,  (Madrid,  1677,)  pp.  74, 
75.— Sempere,  Historia  del  Luxo,  tom.  i. 

p.  80. 

43  The  historian  of  Seville  describes 
that  city,  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  as  possessing  a flourishing  com- 
merce, and  a degree  of  opulence  unex- 
ampled since  the  conquest.  It  was  filled 
with  an  active  population,  employed  in 
the  various  mechanic  arts.  Its  domestic 
fabrics,  as  well  as  natural  products,  of 
oil,  wine,  wool,  etc.,  supplied  a trade  with 
France,  Flanders,  Italy,  and  England. 
(Zuniga  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  341.— See 
also  Sempere,  Historia  del  Luxo,  p.  81, 
nota  2.)  The  ports  of  Biscay,  which  be- 


INTRODUCTION. 


415 


SEC.  I.] 

longed  to  the  Castilian  crown,  were  the 
marts  of  an  extensive  trade  with  the 
north,  during  the  thirteenth  and  four- 
teenth centuries.  This  province  entered 
into  repeated  treaties  of  commerce  with 
France  and  England ; and  her  factories 
were  established  at  Bruges,  the  great  em- 
porium of  commercial  intercourse  during 
this  period  between  the  north  and  south, 
before  those  of  any  other  people  in  Eu- 
rope, except  the  Germans.  (Diccionario 
Geogr&fico-Historico  de  Espana,  por  la 
Real  Academia  de  la  Historia,  [Madrid, 
1802,]  tom.  i.  p.  333.)  The  institution  of 
the  mesta  is  referred,  says  Laborde, 
(Itineraire  Descriptif  de  l’Espagne, 
[Paris,  1827-1830,]  tom.  iv.  p.  47,)  to  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  -when 
the  great  plague,  which  devastated  the 
country  so  sorely,  left  large  depopulated 
tracts  open  to  pasturage.  This  popular 
opinion  is  erroneous,  since  it  engaged  the 
attention  of  government,  and  became  the 
subject  of  legislation  as  anciently  as  1273, 
under  Alfonso  the  Wise.  (See  Asso  y 
Manuel,  Instituciones,  Introd.  p.  56.) 
Capmany,  however,  dates  the  great  im- 
provement in  the  breed  of  Spanish  sheep 
from  the  year  1394,  when  Catharine  of 
Lancaster  brought  with  her,  as  a part  of 
her  dowry  to  the  lieir  apparent  of  Castile , 
a flock  of  English  merinos,  distinguished, 
at  that  time,  above  those  of  every  other 
country,  for  the  beauty  and  delicacy  of 
their  fleece.  (Memorias  Hist6ricas  sobre 
la  Marina,  Comercio,  y Artes  de  Barce- 
lona, [Madrid,  1779-1792,]  tom.  iii.  pp.  336, 
337.)  This  acute  writer,  after  a very  care- 
ful examination  of  the  subject,  differing 
from  those  already  quoted,  considers  the 
raw  material  for  manufacture,  and  the 
natural  productions  of  the  soil,  to  have 
constituted  almost  the  only  articles  of  ex- 
port from  Spain,  until  after  the  fifteenth 
century.  (Ibid.,  p.  338.)  We  will  remark, 
in  conclusion  of  this  desultory  note,  that 
the  term  merinos  is  derived,  by  Conde, 
from  moedinos,  signifying  “wander- 
ing ; ” the  name  of  an  Arabian  tribe,  who 
shifted  their  place  of  residence  with  the 
season.  (Hist,  de  los  Arabes  en  Espana, 
tom.  i.  p.  488,  nota.)  The  derivation 
might  startle  any  but  a professed  ety- 
mologist. 

44  See  the  original  acts,  cited  by  Sem- 
pere.  (Historia  del  Luxo,  passim.)  The 
archpriest  of  Hita  indulges  his  vein  free- 
ly against  the  luxury,  cupidity,  and  other 
fashionable  sins  of  his  age.  (See  Sanchez, 
Toesias  Castellanas,  tom.  iv.)— The  influ- 


ence of  Mammon  appears  to  have  been 
as  supreme  in  the  fourteenth  century  as 
at  any  later  period. 

“ Sea  un  ome  nescio,  et  rudo  labrador, 

Los  dineros  le  f asen.  fidalgo  e sabidor, 

Quanto  mas  algo  tiene,  tanto  es  mas  de  valor, 

Ei  quo  no  ha  dineros,  non  es  de  si  sehor.” 

Vv.  465  et  seq. 

45  Marina,  Ensayo,  nos.  199,  297.— Zu- 
niga, Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  341. 

46  Marina,  Teoria,  part.  2,  cap.  23.— 
Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  18,  cap.  15. 
— The  admission  of  citizens  into  the  king’s 
council,  would  have  formed  a most  im- 
portant epoch  for  the  commons,  had  they 
not  soon  been  replaced  by  jurisconsults, 
whose  studies  and  sentiments  inclined 
them  less  to  the  popular  side  than  to  that 
of  prerogative. 

47  Ibid.,  lib.  18,  cap.  17. 

48  Castilla.  See  Salazar  de  Mendoza, 
Monarquia,  tom.  i.  p.  108.— Livy  mentions 
the  great  number  of  these  towers  in  Spain 
in  his  day.  “ Multas  et  locis  altis  positas 
turres  Hispania  habet.”  (Lib.  22,  cap,  19.) 
— A castle  was  emblazoned  on  the  escutch- 
eon of  Castile,  as  far  back  as  the  reign  of 
Urraca,  in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth 
century,  according  to  Salazar  de  Men- 
doza, (Monarquia  tom.  i.  p.  142,)  although 
Garibay  discerns  no  vistage  of  these  arms 
on  any  instrument  of  a much  older  date 
than  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. Compendio,  lib.  12,  cap.  32. 

49  “ Hizo  guerra  a los  Moros, 

Ganando  sus  fortalezas 

Y sus  villas. 

Y cn  las  lides  que  vencio 
Caballeros  y caballos 

Se  perdi6ron, 

Y en  este  oficio  gano 
Las  rentas  y los  vasallos 
Que  le  di6ron.” 

Coplas  de  Manri  iue,  copla  31 . 

co  Asso  and  Manuel  derive  the  intro- 
duction of  fiefs  into  Castile,  from  Cata- 
lonia. (Instituciones,  p.  96.)  The  twenty- 
sixth  title,  part.  4,  of  Alfonso  X.’s  code, 
(Siete  Partidas,)  treats  exclusively  of 
them.  (De  los  Feudos.)  The  laws  2, 4,  5, 
are  expressly  devoted  to  a brief  exposi- 
tion of  the  nature  of  a fief,  the  ceremo- 
nies of  investiture,  and  the  reciprocal  obli- 
gations of  lord  and  vassal.  Those  of  the 
latter  consisted  in  keeping  his  lord’s  coun- 
sel, maintaining  his  interest,  and  aiding 
him  in  war.  With  all  this,  there  are  anom- 
alies in  this  code,  and  still  more  in  the 
usages  of  the  country,  not  easy  to  explain 
on  the  usual  principles  of  the  feudal  re- 
lation ; a circumstance,  which  has  led  to 


416 


INTRODUCTION. 


much  discrepancy  of  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject, in  political  writers,  as  well  as  to  some 
inconsistency.  Sempere,  who  entertains 
no  doubt  of  the  establishment  of  feudal 
institutions  in  Castile,  tells  us,  that  “the 
nobles,  after  the  Conquest,  succeeded  in 
obtaining  an  exemption  from  military 
service,” — one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
and  essential  of  all  the  feudal  relations. 
Histoire  des  Cortes,  pp.  30,  72,  249. 

51  A sso  y Manuel,  Instituciones,  p.  2G. 
—Sempere,  Histoire  des  Cortes,  chap.  4. 
— The  incensed  nobles  quitted  the  Cortes 
in  disgust,  and  threatened  to  vindicate 
their  rights  by  arms,  on  one  such  occa- 
sion, 1176.  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom. 
i.  p.  644.  See  also  tom.  ii.  p.  176. 

52  Iidem  auctores,  ubi  supra. — Prieto 
y Sotelo,  Historia  del  Derecho  Real  de 
Espana.  (Madrid,  1733,)  lib.  2,  cap.  23; 
lib.  3,  cap.  8. 

58  Siete  Partidas,  (ed.  de  la  Real.  Acad., 
Madrid,  1807.)  part.  4,  tit.  25,  ley  11.  On 
such  occasions  they  sent  him  a formal 
defiance  by  their  king  at  arms.  Marina, 
Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  i.  pp.  768,  912. 

54  Ibid.,  tom.  i.  pp.  707,  713. 

55  The  forms  of  this  solemnity  may  be 
found  ir>  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom. 
i.  p.  907. 

56  Marina,  Ensayo,  p.  128. 

57  John  I.,  in  1390,  authorized  appeals 
from  the  seignorial  tribunals  to  those  of 
the  crown.  Ibid.,  tom.  ii.  p.  179. 

58  The  nature  of  these  dignities  is  ex- 
plained in  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Monar- 
quia,  tom.  i.  pp.  155,  166,  203. 

59  From  the  scarcity  of  these  baronia, 
residences,  some  fanciful  etymologists 
have  derived  the  familiar  saying  cf  “ Cha- 
teaux en  Espagne.”  See  Bourgoanne, 
Travels  in  Spain,  tom.  ii.  chap.  12. 

co  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  i.  p. 
910. 

61  Cronica  de  Don  Alvaro  de  Luna,  (ed. 
de  la  Acad.  Madrid,  1784,)  App.  p.  465. 

62  Guzman,  Generaciones  y Semblan- 
zas,  (Madrid,  1775,)  cap.  84. — His  annual 
revenue  is  computed  by  Perez  de  Guz- 
man, at  100,000  doblas  of  gold ; a sum 
equivalent  to  856,000  dollars  at  the  present 
day. 

63  The  former  of  these  two  sums  is 
equivalent  to  $438,875,  or  £91,474  sterling  ; 
and  the  latter  to  $526,650,  or  £109,716, 
nearly.  I have  been  guided  by  a disser- 
tation of  Clemencin,  in  the  sixth  volume 
of  the  Memorias  de  la  Real  Academia  de 


[SEC.  I. 

la  Historia,  (Madrid,  1821,  pp.  507-566,)  in 
the  reduction  of  sums  in  this  History. 
That  treatise  is  very  elaborate  and  ample, 
and  brings  under  view  all  the  different 
coins  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella’s  time, 
settling  their  specific  value  with  great 
accuracy.  The  calculation  is  attended 
with  considerable  difficulty,  owing  to  the 
depreciation  of  the  value  of  the  precious 
metals,  and  the  repeated  adulteration  of 
the  real.  In  his  tables,  at  the  end,  he  ex- 
hibits the  commercial  value  of  the  differ- 
ent denominations,  ascertained  by  the 
quantity  of  wheat  (as  sure  a standard  as 
any),  which  they  would  buy  at  that  day. 
Taking  the  average  of  values,  which 
varied  considerably  in  different  years  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  it  appears  that 
the  ducat,  reduced  to  our  own  currency, 
will  be  equal  to  about  eight  dollars  and 
seventy-seven  cents,  and  the  dobla  to 
eight  dollars  and  fifty-six  cents. 

64  The  ample  revenues  of  the  Spanish 
grandee  of  the  present  time,  instead  of 
being  lavished  on  a band  of  military  re- 
tainers, as  of  yore,  are  sometimes  dis- 
pensed in  the  more  peaceful  hospitality 
of  supporting  an  almost  equally  formida- 
ble host  of  needy  relations  and  depend- 
ents. According  to  Bourgoanne  (Travels 
in  Spain,  vol.  i.  chap.  4,)  no  less  than 
3,000  of  these  gentry  were  maintained  on 
the  estates  of  the  duke  of  Arcos,  who 
died  in  1780. 

65  Mendoza  records  the  circumstance 
of  the  head  of  the  family  of  Ponce  de 
Leon  (a  descendant  of  the  celebrated  mar- 
quis of  Cadiz),  carrying  his  son,  then 
thirteen  years  old,  with  him  into  battle  ; 
“an  ancient  usage,”  he  says,  “in  that 
noble  house.”  (Guerra  de  Granada,  [Va- 
lencia, 1776,]  p.  318.)  The  only  son  of 
Alfonso  VI.  was  slain,  fighting  manfully 
in  the  ranks,  at  the  battle  of  Ucles,  in 
1109,  when  only  eleven  years  of  age.  Ma- 
rina, Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  i.  p.  565. 

66  The  northern  provinces,  the  theatre 
of  this  primitive  independence,  have  al- 
ways been  consecrated  by  this  very  cir- 
cumstance, in  the  eyes  of  a Spaniard. 
“The  proudest  lord,”  says  Navagiero, 
“ feels  it  an  honor  to  trace  his  pedigree  to 
this  quarter.”  (Viaggio,  fol.  44.)  The 
same  feeling  has  continued,  and  the 
meanest  native  of  Biscay,  or  the  Asturias, 
at  the  present  day,  claims  to  be  noble  ; a 
pretension,  which  often  contrasts  ridicu- 
lously enough  with  the  humble  character 
of  his  occupation,  and  has  furnished 
many  a pleasant  anecdote  to  travellers. 


SEC.  I.] 


INTRODUCTION. 


417 


67  An  elaborate  dissertation,  by  the  ad- 
vocate Don  Alonso  Carillo,  on  the  pre- 
eminence and  privileges  of  the  Castilian 
grandee,  is  ajjpended  to  Salazar  de  Men- 
doza’s Orlgen  de  las  Dignidades  Seglares 
tie  Castilla  (Madrid,  1794.)  The  most 
prized  cf  these,  appears  to  be  that  of 
keeping  the  head  covered  in  the  presence 
of  the  sovereign  ; “ prerogativa  tan  ilus- 
tre,”  says  the  writer,  “que  ella  sola  irn- 
X>rime  el  principal  caracter  de  la  Grande- 
za.  Y considerada  por  sus  efectos  admi- 
rables , ocupa  dignamente  el  primero 
lugar.”  (Biseurso  3.)  The  sentimental 
citizen  Bourgoanne,  finds  it  necessary 
to  apologize  to  his  republican  brethren, 
for  noticing  these  “important  trifles.” 
Travels  in  Spain,  vol.  i.  chap.  4. 

68  “Los  llamaron  fijosdalgo,  que  mu- 
estra  a tanto  como  fijos  de  bien.”  (Siete 
Partidas,  part.  2,  tit.  21.)  “Por  hidalgos 
se  entienden  los  liombres  escogidos  de 
buenos  lugar es  e con  algo.”  Asso  y 
Manuel,  Instituciones,  pp.  33,  34. 

09  Recop.  de  las  Leyes,  lib.  6,  tit.  1, 
leyes  2,  9 ; tit.  2,  leyes  3,  4,  10 ; tit.  14, 
leyes  14,  19.— They  were  obliged  to  con- 
tribute to  the  repair  of  fortifications  and 
public  works,  although,  as  the  statute  ex- 
presses it,  “tengan  privilegios  para  que 
sean  essentos  de  todos  pechos.” 

70  The  knight  was  to  array  himself  in 
light  and  cheerful  vestments,  and,  in  the 
cities  and  public  places,  his  person  was 
to  be  enveloped  in  a long  and  flowing 
mantle,  in  order  to  impose  greater  rever- 
ence cn  the  people.  His  good  steed  was 
to  be  distinguished  by  the  beauty  and 
richness  of  his  caparisons.  He  was  to 
live  abstemiously,  indulging  himself  in 
none  of  the  effeminate  delights  of  couch 
or  banquet.  During  his  repast,  his  mind 
was  to  be  refreshed  with  the  recital,  from 
history,  of  deeds  of  ancient  heroism  ; and 
in  the  fight  he  was  commanded  to  invoke 
the  name  of  his  mistress,  that  it  might 
infuse  new  ardor  into  his  soul,  and  pre- 
cel  ve  him  from  the  commission  of  un- 
knightly  actions.  See  Siete  Partidas, 
part.  2,  tit.  21,  which  is  taken  up  with  de- 
fining the  obligations  of  chivalry. 

71  See  Fuero  Juzgo,  lib.  3,  which  is  de- 
voted almost  exclusively  to  the  sex.  Mon- 
tesquieu discerns  in  the  jealous  surveil- 
lance, which  the  Visigoths  maintained 
over  the  honor  of  their  women,  so  close 
an  analogy  with  oriental  usages,  as  must 
have  greatly  facilitated  the  conquest  of 
the  country  by  the  Arabians.  Esprit  des 
Loix,  liv.  14,  chap.  14. 


72  Warton’s  expression.  See  vol.  i.  p. 
245,  of  the  late  learned  edition  of  his  His- 
tory of  English  Poetry,  (London,  1824.) 

73  See  the  “Passo  Honroso  ” append- 
ed to  the  Crdnica  de  Alvaro  de  Luna. 

74  The  present  narrative  will  introduce 
the  reader  to  more  than  one  belligerent 
prelate,  who  filled  the  very  highest  post 
in  the  Spanish,  and,  I may  say,  the  Chris- 
tian church,  next  the  papacy.  (See 
Alvaro  Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis  a Fran- 
cisco Ximenio  Cisnerio,  [Compluti,  1569, J 
fol.  110  et  seq.)  The  practice,  indeed,  was 
familiar  in  other  countries,  as  vrell  as 
Spain,  at  this  late  period.  In  the  bloody 
battle  of  Ravenna,  in  1512,  two  cardinal 
legates,  one  of  them  the  future  Leo  X., 
fought  on  opposite  sides.  Paolo  Giovio, 
Vita  Leonis  X.,  apud  “Vitae  Illustrium 
Virorum,”  (Basiliae,  1578,)  lib.  2. 

75  The  contest  for  supremacy,  between 
the  Mozarabic  ritual  and  the  Roman,  is 
familiar  to  the  reader,  in  the  curious 
narrative  extracted  by  Robertson  from 
Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  9,  cap.  18. 

78  Siete  Partidas,  part.  1,  tit.  6. — Florez, 
Espana  Sagrada,  tom.  xx.  p.  16.— The 
Jesuit  Marina  appears  to  grudge  this  ap- 
propriation of  the  “sacred  revenues  of 
the  Church”  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
the  holy  war  against  the  Saracen.  (Hist, 
de  Espana,  tormi.  p.  177.)  See  also  the 
Ensayo,  (nos.  32^-364,)  where  Marina  has 
analyzed,  and  discussed  the  general  im- 
port of  the  first  of  the  Partidas. 

77  Marina,  Ensayo,  ubi  supra,  and  nos. 
220  et  seq. 

78  See  the  original  acts  quoted  by  Sem- 
pere,  in  his  Historia  del  Luxo,  tom.  i.  pp. 
166  et  seq. 

70  Lucio  Marineo  Siculo,  Cosas  Mem- 
orables  de  Espana,  (AlcalA  de  Henares, 
1539,)  fol.  16. 

80  Navagiero,  Viaggio,  fol.  9.— L.  Ma- 
rineo, Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  12.— La- 
borde  reckons  the  revenues  of  this  pre- 
late, in  his  tables,  at  12,000,000  reals,  or 
600,000  dollars.  (Itin6raire,  tom.  vi.  p.  9.) 
The  estimate  is  grossly  exaggerated  for 
the  present  day.  The  rents  of  this  see, 
like  those  of  every  other  in  the  king- 
dom, have  been  greviously  clipped  in  the 
late  political  troubles.  They  are  stated 
by  the  intelligent  author  of  “A  Year  in 
Spain,”  on  the  authority  of  the  clergy  of 
the  diocese,  at  one-third  of  the  above  sum, 
only;  (p.  217,  Boston  ed.  1829;)  an  esti- 
mate confirmed  by  Mr.  Inglis,  who  com- 


418 


INTRODUCTION. 


pules  them  at  £40,000.  Spain  in  1830, 
vol.  i.  ch.  11. 

81  Modern  travellers,  who  condemn 
without  reserve  the  corruption  of  the  in- 
ferior clergy,  bear  uniform  testimony  to 
the  exemplary  piety  and  munificent 
charities  of  the  higher  dignitaries  of  the 
church. 

82  Marina,  Teoria,  part.  2,  cap.  2,  5,  6. 
— A remarkable  instance  of  this  occurred 
as  late  as  the  accession  of  Charles  V. 

83  The  earliest  example  of  this  perma- 
nent committee  of  the  commons,  resid 
ing  at  court,  and  entering  into  the  king’s 
council,  was  in  the  minority  of  Ferdi- 
nand TV.,  in  1295.  The  subject  is  involved 
in  some  obscurity,  which  Marina  has  not 
succeeded  in  dispelling.  He  considers 
the  deputation  to  have  formed  a neces- 
sary and  constituent  part  of  the  council, 
from  the  time  of  its  first  appointment 
(Teoria,  tom.  ii,  cap.  27,  28.)  Sempere,  on 
the  other  hand,  discerns  no  warrant  for 
this,  after  its  introduction,  till  the  time 
of  the  Austrian  dynasty.  (Histoire  des 
Cortes,  chap.  29.)  Marina,  who  too  often 
mistakes  anomaly  for  practice,  is  cer- 
tainly not  justified,  even  by  his  own  show- 
ing, in  the  sweeping  conclusions  to 
which  he  arrives.  But,  if  his  prejudices 
lead  him  to  see  more  than  has  happened, 
on  the  one  hand,  those  of  Sempere,  on 
on  the  other,  make  him  sometimes  high 
gravel  blind. 

84  The  important  functions  and  history 
of  this  body  are  investigated  by  Marina. 
(Teoria,  part.  2,  cap.  27,  28,  29.)  See  also 
Sempere,  (Histoire  des  Cortes,  cap.  16,) 
and  the  Informe  de  Don  Agustin  Riol, 
(apud  Semanario  Erudito,  tom.  iii.  pp. 
113  et  seq.)  where,  however,  its  subse- 
quent condition  is  chiefly  considered. 

85  Not  so  exclusively,  however,  by  any 
means,  as  Marina  pretends.  (Teoria, 
part.  2,  cap.  17,  18.)  He  borrows  a perti- 
nent illustration  from  the  famous  code  of 
Alfonso  X.,  which  was  not  received  as 
law  of  the  land  till  it  had  been  formally 
published  in  Cortes,  1348,  more  than 
seventy  years  after  its  original  compila- 
tion. In  his  zeal  for  popular  rights,  he 
omits  to  notice,  however,  the  power,  so 
frequently  assumed  by  the  sovereign,  of 
granting  fueros,  or  municipal  charters; 
a right,  indeed,  which  the  great  lords, 
spiritual  and  temporal,  exercised  in  com- 
mon with  him,  subject  to  his  sanction. 
See  a multitude  of  these  seignorial  codes, 
enumerated  by  Asso  and  Manuel.  (Insti- 


[SEC.  I. 

tuciones,  Introd.,  pp.  31  et  seq.)  The 
monarch  claimed,  moreover,  though  not, 
by  any  means,  so  freely  as  in  later 
times,  the  privilege  of  issuing  pragmati- 
cas,  ordinances  of  an  executive  charac- 
ter, or  for  the  redress  of  grievances  sub- 
mitted to  him  by  the  national  legislature. 
Within  certain  limits,  this  was  undoubt- 
edly a constitutional  prerogative.  But 
the  history  of  Castile,  like  that  of  most 
other  countries  in  Europe,  shows  how 
easily  it  was  abused  in  the  hands  of  an 
arbitrary  prince. 

86  The  civil  and  criminal  business  of 
the  kingdom  was  committed,  in  the  last 
resort,  to  the  very  ancient  tribunal  of 
alcaldes,  de  casa  y corte,  until,  in  1371,  a 
new  one,  entitled  the  royal  audience  or 
chancery,  was  constituted  under  Henry 
II.,  with  supreme  and  ultimate  jurisdic- 
tion in  civil  causes.  These,  in  the  first 
instance,  however,  might  be  brought  bo- 
fore  the  alcaldes  de  la  corte , which  con- 
tinued, and  has  since  continued,  the  high 
court  in  criminal  matters.  The  audiencia , 
or  chancery,  consisted  at  first  of  seven 
judges,  whose  number  varied  a good  deal 
afterwards.  They  were  appointed  by 
the  crown,  in  the  manner  mentioned  in 
the  text.  Their  salaries  were  such  as  to 
secure  their  independence,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, of  any  undue  influence;  and  this 
was  still  further  done  by  the  supervision 
of  Cortes,  whose  acts  show  the  deep  solici- 
tude with  which  it  watched  over  the  con- 
cerns and  conduct  of  this  important 
tribunal.  For  a notice  of  the  original 
organization  and  subsequent  modifica- 
tions of  the  Castilian  courts,  consult  Mari- 
na, (Teoria,  part.  2,  cap.  21-25.)  Riol, 
(Informe  apud  Semanario  Erudito,  tom. 
iii.  pp.  129  et  seq.)  and  Sempere,  (His- 
toire des  Cortes,  chap.  15,)  whose  loose 
and  desultory  remarks  show  perfect 
familiarity  with  the  subject,  and  pre- 
suppose more  than  is  likely  to  be  found 
in  the  reader. 

87  Siete  Partidas,  part.  2,  tit.  26,  leyes 
5,  6,  7. — Mendoza  notices  this  custom  as 
recently  as  Philip  II.  ’s  day.  Guerra  de 
Granada,  p.  170. 

88  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  15,  cap. 
19,  20. 

89  Garibay,  Compendio,  tom.  ii.  p.  399. 
—Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  pp. 
234,  235.— Pedro  Lopez  de  Ayala,  chancel- 
lor of  Castile  and  chronicler  of  the  reigns 
of  four  of  its  successive  monarchs,  termi- 
nated his  labors  abruptly  with  the  sixth 


INTRODUCTION. 


419 


SEC.  II.] 

year  of  Henry  III.,  the  subsequent  period 
of  whose  administration  is  singularly  bar- 
ren of  authentic  materials  for  history. 
The  editor  of  Ayala’s  Chronicle  considers 
the  adventure,  quoted  in  the  text,  as  fic- 
titious, and  probably  suggested  by  a 
stratagem  employed  by  Henry  for  the 
seizure  of  the  duke  of  Benevente,  and  by 
his  subsequent  imprisonment  at  Burgos. 
See  Ayala,  Cronica  de  Castilla,  p.  355, 
note,  (ed.  de  la  Acad.,  1780.) 

SECTION  II. 

1 Catalonia  was  united  with  Aragon  by 
the  marriage  of  queen  Petronilla  with 
Raymond  Berengere,  count  of  Barcelona, 
in  1150.  Valencia  was  conquered  from 
the  Moors  by  James  I.,  in  1233. 

2 Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom. 
iii.  pp.  45-47.— The  Catalans  were  much 
celebrated  during  the  Middle  Ages  for 
their  skill  with  the  crossbow  ; for  a more 
perfect  instruction  in  which,  the  munici- 
pality of  Barcelona  established  games 
and  gymnasiums.  Ibid.,  tom.  i.  p.  113. 

3 Sicily  revolted  to  Peter  III.,  in  1282. — 
Sardinia  was  conquered  by  James  II.,  in 
1324,  and  the  Balearic  Isles  by  Peter  IV. , 
in  1343-4.  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  247; 
tom.  ii.  fol.  60. — Hermilly,  Histoire  du 
Royaume  de  Majorque,  (Maestricht,  1777,) 
pp.  227-268. 

4 Hence  the  title  of  duke  of  Athens,  as- 
sumed by  the  Spanish  sovereigns.  The 
biilliant  fortunes  of  Roger  de  Flor  are  re- 
lated by  count  Moncada,  (Expedicion  de 
los  Catalanes  y Aragoneses  contra  Turcos 
y Griegos,  Madrid,  1805,)  in  a style  much 
commended  by  Spanish  critics  for  its  ele- 
gance. See  Mondejar,  Advertencias,  p. 
114. 

6 It  was  confirmed  by  Alfonso  III.,  in 
1328.  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  ii.  fol.  90. 

6 See  the  fragments  of  the  Fuero  de 
Soprarbe , cited  by  Blancas,  Aragonensi- 
um  Rerum  Commentarii,  (Caesaraugus- 
t m,  1588,)  pp.  25-29.— The  well-known  oath 
of  the  Aragonese  to  their  sovereign  on  his 
accession,  “ Nos  que  valemos  tan  to  como 
vos,”  etc.,  frequently  quoted  by  histori- 
ans, rests  on  the  authority  of  Antonio 
Perez,  the  unfortunate  minister  of  Philip 
II.,  who,  however  good  a voucher  for  the 
usages  of  his  own  time,  has  made  a blun- 
der in  the  very  sentence  preceding  this, 
by  confounding  the  Privilege  of  Union 
with  one  of  the  Laws  of  Soprarbe,  which 
shows  him  to  be  insufficient,  especially  as 
he  is  the  only  authority  for  this  ancient 


ceremony.  See  Antonio  Perez,  Relacio- 
nes,  (Paris,  1598,)  fol.  92. 

7 Ac65e7ra  ya.9  tto-tcl  Syujlov  a$LTr$eirie<; 
(3acn\r)e<; 

’A 9xot  i??cuVoV(Tt,  T§t(77ra(.6e7raTo?  6’ 
eya)  avros* 

Odyss.  0.  390. 

In  like  manner  Alfonso  HI.  alludes  to 
“the  ancient  times  in  Aragon,  when 
there  were  as  many  kings  as  ricos  hom- 
bres.”  See  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol. 
316. 

8 The  authenticity  of  the  “ Fuero  de 
Soprarbe”  has  been  keenly  debated  by 
the  Aragonese  and  Navarrese  writers. 
Moret,  in  refutation  of  Blancas,  who  es- 
pouses it,  (See  Commentarii,  p.  289,) 
states,  that,  after  a diligent  investigation 
of  the  archives  of  that  region,  he  finds  no 
mention  of  the  laws,  nor  even  of  the 
name,  of  Soprarbe,  until  the  eleventh 
century;  a startling  circumstance  for  the 
antiquary.  (Investigaciones  Histdricas 
de  las  Antiguedades  del  Reyno  de  Na- 
varra, [Pamplona,  1766,]  tom.  vi.  lib.  2, 
cap.  11.)  Indeed,  the  historians  of  Ara- 
gon, admit,  that  the  public  documents 
previous  to  the  fourteenth  century  suf- 
fered so  much  from  various  causes  as  to 
leave  comparatively  few  materials  for 
authentic  narrative.  (Blancas,  Commen- 
tarii,  Pref.— Risco,  Espana  Sagrada,  tom. 
xxx.  Prdlogo.)  Blancas  transcribed  his 
extract  of  the  laws  of  Soprarbe  princi- 
pally from  Prince  Charles  of  Viana’s  His- 
tory, written  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
See  Commentarii,  p.  25. 

9 Asso  y Manuel,  Instituciones,  pp.  39, 
40. — Blancas,  Commentarii,  pp.  333,  334, 
340. — Fueros  y Observancias  del  Reyno 
de  Aragon,  (Zaragoza,  1667,)  tom.  i.  fol. 
130. — The  ricos  hombres,  thus  created  by 
the  monarch,  were  styled  de  mesnada , 
signifying  “of  the  household.”  It  was 
lawful  for  a rico  liombre  to  bequeath  his 
honors  to  whichsoever  of  his  legitimate 
children  he  might  prefer,  and,  in  default 
of  issue,  to  his  nearest  of  kin.  He  was 
bound  to  distribute  the  bulk  of  his  estates 
in  fiefs  among  his  knights,  so  that  a com- 
plete system  of  sub-infeudation  was  es- 
tablished. The  knights,  on  restoring 
their  fiefs,  might  change  their  suzerains 
at  pleasure. 

10  Asso  y Manuel,  Instituciones,  p,  41. 
— Blancas,  Commentarii,  pp.  307,  322,  331. 

11  Fueros  y Observancias,  tom.  i.  fol. 
130.— Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cor- 
tes en  Aragon,  (Zaragoza,  1641,)  p.  98.— 


420 


INTRODUCTION. 


Blancas,  Commentarii,  pp.  306,  312-317, 
3.3,  330.— Asso  y Manuel,  Instituciones, 
pp.  40-43. 

1 2 Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  124. 

13  Blancas,  Commentarii,  p.  334. 

14  See  the  partition  of  Saragossa  by 
Alfonso  the  Warrior.  Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  i.  fol.  43. 

15  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espaila,  tom.  ii.  p. 
198. — Blancas,  Commentarii,  p.  218. 

16  See  a register  of  these  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixteenth  century,  apud  L. 
Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  25. 

17  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  ii.  fol.  127. — 
Blancas,  Commentarii,  p.  324. — “Adhgec 
Ricis  hominibus  ipsis  majorum  more  in- 
stitutisque  concedebatur,  ut  sese  possent, 
dum  ipsi  vellent,  a nostrorum  Regum 
jure  et  potestate,  quasi  nodum  aliquem, 
expedire;  neque  expedire  solum,  sed  di- 
misso  prius,  quo  potirentur,  Honore , 
bellum  ipsis  inferre ; Reges  vero  Rici  ho- 
minis  sic  expediti  uxorem,  filios,  famil- 
iam,  res,  bona,  et  fortunas  omnes  in  suam 
recipere  fidem  tenebantur.  Neque  ulla 
erat  eorum  utilitatis  facienda  jactura.” 

18  Fueros  y Observancias,  tom.  i.  p.  84. 
— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  350. 

19  Blancas  somewhere  boasts,  that  no 
one  of  the  kings  of  Aragon  has  been  stig- 
matized by  a cognomen  of  infamy,  as  in 
most  of  the  other  royal  races  of  Europe. 
Peter  IV.,  “ the  Ceremonious,”  richly  de- 
served one. 

20  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  102. 

21  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  198. — He 
recommended  this  policy  to  his  son-in- 
law,  the  king  of  Castile. 

22  Sempere,  Histoire  des  CortSs,  p.  1G4. 

23  Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  4,  cap.  96. — Abar- 
ca  dates  this  event  in  the  year  preceding. 
Reyes  do  Aragon,  en  Anales  Histdricos, 
(Madrid,  1082-1684,)  tom.  ii.  fol.  8. 

24  Blancas,  Commentarii,  pp.  192, 193. — 
Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  2G0  et  alibi. 

23  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  ii.  fol.  126-130.— 
Blancas,  Commentarii,  pp.  195-197. — 
Hence  he  was  styled  “Peter  of  the  Dag- 
ger; ” and  a statue  of  him,  bearing  in 
one  hand  this  weapon,  and  in  the  other 
the  Privilege,  stood  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputation  at  Saragossa  in  Philip  II. ’s 
time.  See  Antonio  Perez,  Relaciones, 
fol.  95. 

26  See  the  statute,  De  Prohibits  Unione, 
etc.  Fueros  y Observancias,  tom.  i.  fol. 
178. — A copy  of  the  original  Privileges 
was  detected  by  Blancas  among  the 


[SEC.  H. 

manuscripts  of  the  archbishop  of  Sara- 
gossa ; but  he  declined  publishing  it  from 
deference  to  the  prohibition  of  his  ances- 
tors. Commentarii,  p.  179. 

27  “Haec  itaque  domestica  Regis  vic- 
toria, quae  miserrimum  universae  Reipub- 
licae  interitum  videbatur  esse  allatura, 
stabilem  nobis  constituit  pacem,  tranquil - 
litatem,  et  otium.  Inde  enim  Magistra- 
te Justitiae  Aragonum  in  earn,  quara 
nunc  colimus,  amplitudinem  dignitatis 
devenit.”  Ibid.,  p.  197. 

28  Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes, 
cap.  8. — “ Bragos  del  reino,  porque  cibra- 
gan,  y tienenen  si.” — The  Cortes  consist- 
ed only  of  three  arms  in  Catalonia  and 
Valencia;  both  the  greater  and  lesser  no- 
bility sitting  in  the  same  chamber.  Per- 
guera,  Cortes  en  Cataluna,  and  Matheu  y 
Sanz,  Constitucion  de  Valencia,  apud 
Capmany,  Pr&ctica  y Estilo,  pp.  65,  183, 
184. 

29  Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes, 
cap.  10,  17,  21,  46.— Blancas,  Modo  dePro- 
ceder  en  Cortes  de  Aragon,  (Zaragoza, 
1641,)  fol.  17, 18. 

30  Capmany,  Pr&ctica  y Estilo,  p.  12. 

31  Blancas,  Modo  de  Proceder,  fol.  14. 
—Zurita,  indeed,  gives  repeated  instan- 
ces of  their  convocation  in  the  thirteenth 
and  twelfth  centuries,  from  a date  al- 
most coeval  with  that  of  the  commons ; 
yet  Blancas,  who  made  this  subject  his 
particular  study,  who  wrote  posterior  to 
Zurita,  and  occasionally  refers  to  him, 
postpones  the  era  of  their  admission  into 
the  legislature  to  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century. 

32  One  of  the  monarchs  of  Aragon,  Al- 
fonso the  Warrior,  according  to  Marina, 
bequeathed  all  his  dominions  to  the 
Templars  and  Hospitallers.  Another, 
Peter  II.,  agreed  to  hold  his  kingdom  as 
a fief  of  the  see  of  Rome,  and  to  pay  it  arf 
annual  tribute.  (Hist,  de  Espaila,  tom.  i. 
pp.  596,  664.)  This  so  much  disgusted  the 
people,  that  they  compelled  his  success- 
ors to  make  a public  protest  against  the 
claims  of  the  church,  before  their  cor- 
onation.—See  Blancas,  Coronaciones  de 
los  Serenisimos  Reyes  de  Aragon,  (Zara- 
goza, 1641,)  cap.  2. 

33  Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes, 
cap.  22. — Asso  y Manuel,  Instituciones, 
p.  44.  * 

34  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  163,  A.  D. 
1250. 

35  Ibid.,  tom.  i.  fol.  51. — The  earliest 
appearance  of  popular  representation  in 


SEC.  II. 


INTRODUCTION. 


421 


Catalonia  is  fixed  by  Ripoll  at  1283,  (apud 
C-apmany,  Pr&etiea  y Estilo,  p.  135.  What 
can  Capmany  mean  by  postponing  the 
introduction  of  the  commons  into  the 
Cortes  of  Aragon  to  1300?  (See  p.  36.) 
Their  presence  and  names  are  commemo- 
rated by  the  exact  Zurita,  several  times 
before  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century. 

3S  Prdctica  y Estilo,  pp.  14,  17,  18,  30. — 
Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes,  cap. 
10.— Those  who  followed  a mechanical  oc- 
cupation, including  surgeons  and  apothe- 
caries, were  excluded  from  a seat  in 
Cortes.  (Cap.  17.)  The  faculty  have 
rarely  been  treated  with  so  little  cere- 
mony. 

37  Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes, 
cap.  7. — The  Cortes  appear  to  have  been 
more  frequently  convoked  in  the  four- 
teenth century,  than  in  any  other.  Blan- 
cas refers  to  no  less  than  twenty-three 
within  that  period,  averaging  nearly  one 
in  four  years.  (Commentarii,  Index,  voce 
Comitia.)  In  Catalonia  and  Valencia,  the 
Cortes  was  to  be  summoned  every  three 
years.  Berart,  Discurso  Breve  sobre  la 
Celebracion  de  Cortes  de  Aragon,  (1626,) 
fol.  12. 

38  Caphiany,  Pr&ctica  y Estilo,  p.  15.— 
Blancas  has  preserved  a specimen  of  an 
address  from  the  throne,  in  1398,  in  which 
the  king,  after  selecting  some  moral  apo- 
thegm as  a text,  rambles  for  the  space  of 
half  an  hour  through  Scripture  history, 
etc.,  and  concludes  with  announcing  the 
object  of  his  convening  the  Cortes  to- 
gether, in  three  lines.  Commentarii,  pp. 
376-380. 

39  See  the  ceremonial  detailed  with 
sufficient  prolixity  by  Martel,  (Forma  de 
Celebrar  Cortes,  cap.  52,  53,)  and  a curi- 
ous illustration  of  it  in  Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  iv.  fol.  313. 

40  Capmany,  Prdctica  y Estilo,  pp.  44 
et  seq. — Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cor- 
tes, cap.  50,  60  et  seq.— Fueros  y Obser- 
vances, tom.  i.  fol.  229.— Blancas,  Modo 
de  Proceder,  fol.  2-4. — Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  iii.  fol.  321. — Robertson,  misinter- 
preting a passage  of  Blancas,  (Commen- 
tarii, p.  375,)  states,  that  a “session  of 
Cortes  continued  forty  days-.”  (History 
of  Charles  V.,  vol.  i.  p.  140.)  It  usually 
lasted  months. 

41  Fueros  y Observances,  fol.  6.  tit. 
Privileg.  Gen.— Blancas,  Commentarii,  p. 
371. — Capmany,  Pr&ctica  y Estilo,  p.  51. — 
It  was  anciently  the  practice  of  the  legis- 
lature to  grant  supplies  of  troops,  but 


not  of  money.  When  Peter  IV.  request- 
ed a pecuniary  subsidy,  the  Cortes  told 
him,  that  “such  thing  had  not  been 
usual;  that  his  Christian  subjects  were 
wont  to  serve  him  with  their  persons, 
and  it  was  only  for  Jews  and  Moors  to 
serve  him  with  money.  ’ ’ Blancas,  Modo 
de  Proceder,  cap.  18. 

42  See  examples  of  them  in  Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  51, 263;  tom.  ii.  fol.  391, 
394,  424. — Blancas,  Modo  de  Proceder,  fol. 
98,  106. 

4 3 “There  was  such  a conformity  of 
sentiment  among  all  parties,”  says  Zu- 
rita, “ that  the  privileges  of  the  nobility 
were  no  better  secured  than  those  of  the 
commons.  For  the  Aragonese  deemed 
that  the  existence  of  the  commonwealth 
depended  not  so  much  on  its  strength,  as 
on  its  liberties.”  (Anales,  lib.  4,  cap.  38.) 
In  the  confirmation  of  the  privilege  by 
James  the  Second,  in  1325,  torture,  then 
generally  recognized  by  the  municipal 
law  of  Europe,  was  expressly  prohibited 
in  Aragon,  “as  unworthy  of  freemen.” 
See  Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  6,  cap.  61, — and 
Fueros  y Observances,  tom.  i.  fol.  9. 
Declaratio  Priv.  Generalis. 

44  The  patriotism  of  Blancas  warms  as 
lie  dwells  on  the  illusory  picture  of  an- 
cient virtue,  and  contrasts  it  with  the  de- 
generacy of  his  own  day.  ‘ ‘ Et  vero  prisca 
hsec  tanta  severitas,  desertaque  ilia  et  in- 
culta  vita,  quando  dies  noctesque  nostrl 
armati  concursabant,  ac  in  bello  et  Mau- 
rorum  sanguine  assidui  versabantur; 
verS  quidem  parsimoniae,  fortitudinis, 
temperantise,  caeterarumque  virtutum 
omnium  magistra  fuit.  In  qua  maleficia 
ac  scelera,  quae  nunc  in  otiosa  hao  nostra 
umbratili  et  delicata  gignuntur,  gigni 
non  solebant;  quinimmo  ita  tunc  aequali- 
ter  omnes  omni  genere  virtutum  floruere, 
ut  egregia  haec  laus  videatur  non  homi- 
num  solum,  verum  illorum  etiam  tempo- 
rum  fuisse.”  Commentarii,  p.  340. 

45  It  was  more  frequently  referred, 
both  for  the  sake  of  expedition,  and  of 
obtaining  a more  full  investigation,  to 
commissioners  nominated  conjointly  by 
the  Cortes  and  the  party  demanding  re- 
dress. The  nature  of  the  greuges,  or 
grievances,  which  might  bo  brought  be- 
fore the  legislature,  and  the  mode  of  pro- 
ceeding in  relation  to  them,  are  circum- 
stantially detailed  by  the  parliamentary 
historians  of  Aragon.  See  Berart,  Dis- 
curso sobre  la  Celebracion  de  Cortes,  cap. 
7. — Capmany,  Practica  y Estilo,  pp.  37-44. 
— Blancas,  Modo  de  Proceder,  cap  14,— 


4, 22 


INTRODUCTION. 


and  Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes, 
cap.  54-59. 

4G  Blancas,  Modo  de  Proceder,  cap.  14. 
— Yet  Peter  IV. , in  liis  dispute  with  the 
justice  Fernandez  de  Castro,  denied  this. 
Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  ii.  fol.  170. 

47  Blancas,  Modo  de  Proceder,  ubi 
supra. 

48  As  for  example  the  ciudadanos  hon- 
rados  of  Saragossa.  (Capmany,  PiActica 
y Estilo,  p.  14.)  A ciudadano  honrado  in 
Catalonia,  and  I presume  the  same  in 
Aragon,  was  a landholder,  who  lived  ©n 
his  rents  without  being  engaged  in  com- 
merce or  trade  of  any  kind,  answering  to 
the  French  proprietaire.  See  Capmany, 
Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom.  ii.  Apend.  no.  30. 

49  Blancas,  Modo  de  Proceder,  fol.  102. 

60  Not,  however,  it  must  be  allowed, 

without  a manly  struggle  in  its  defence, 
and  which,  in  the  early  part  of  Charles 
V.'s  reign,  in  1525,.  wrenched  a promise 
from  the  crown,  to  answer  all  petitions 
definitively,  before  the  rising  of  Cortes. 
The  law  still  remains  on  the  statute-book, 
(Recop.  de  las  Leyes,  lib.  G,  tit.  7,  ley  8,)  a 
sad  commentary  on  the  faith  of  princes. 

51  Pr&ctica  y Estilo,  p.  14. 

62  “ Y nos  tenemos  & ellos  como  buenos 
vassallos  y companeros.” — Zurita,  Ana- 
les, lib.  7,  cap.  17. 

53  The  noun  “justicia”  was  made 
masculine  for  the  accommodation  of  this 
magistrate,  who  was  styled  “ el  justicia.” 
Antonio  Perez,  Relaciones,  fol.  91. 

64  Blancas,  Commentarii,  p.  26.-  Zuri- 
ta, Anales,  tom.  i.  fol.  9. 

55  Molinus,  apud  Blancas,  Commen- 
tarii, pp.  343,  344.— Fueros  y Observan- 
cias,  tom.  i.  fol.  21,  25. 

50  Blancas,  Commentarii,  p.  538. — The 
principal  of  these  jurisdictions  was  the 
royal  audience  in  which  the  king  himself 
presided  in  person.  Ibid.,  p.  355. 

57  Fueros  y Observancias,  tom.  i.  fol. 
23,  60  et  seq.,  155,  lib.  3,  tit.  De  Manifesta- 
tiouibus  Personarum.—  Also  fol.  137  et 
seq.,  tit.  7,  De  Firmis  Juris.— Blancas, 
Commentarii,  pp.  350,  351.— Zurita,  An- 
ales, lib.  10,  cap.  37.— The  first  of  these 
processes  was  styled  firma  de  derecho, 
the  last,  manifestacion.  The  Spanish 
writers  are  warm  in  their  encomiums  of 
these  two  provisions.  “Quibus  duobus 
prsesidiis,”  says  Blancas,  “ ita  nostrse 
reipublicae  status  continetur,  ut  nulla 
pars  communium  fortunarum  tutela  va- 
cua relinquatur.”  Both  this  author  and 


[SEC.  II. 

Zurita  have  amplified  the  details  respect- 
ing them,  which  the  reader  may  find  ex- 
tracted, and  in  part  translated  by  Mr. 
Hallam,  Middle  Ages,  vol.  ii.  pp.  75-77, 
notes.  When  complex  litigation  became 
more  frequent,  the  Justice  was  allowed 
one,  afterwards  two,  and  at  a still  later 
period,  in  1528,  five  lieutenants,  as  they 
were  called,  who  aided  him  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  onerous  duties.  Martel, 
Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes,  Notas  de  Uz» 
tarroz,  pp,  92-96.— Blancas,  Commentarii, 
pp.  361-366. 

58  Ibid.,  pp.  343,  346,  347.— Idem.  Cor- 
onaciones,  pp.  200,  202.— Antonio  Perez, 
Relaciones,  fol.  92.  Sempere  cites  the 
opinion  of  an  ancient  canonist,  Canellas, 
bishop  of  Huesca*  as  conclusive  against 
the  existence  of  the  vast  powers  imputed 
by  later  commentators  to  the  Justicia. 
(Historie  des  Cortes,  chap.  19.)  The 
vague,  rhapsodical  tone  of  the  extract 
shows  it  to  be  altogether  undeserving  of 
the  emphasis  laid  on  it;  not  to  add,  that 
it  was  written  more  than  a century  be- 
fore the  period,  when  the  Justicia  pos- 
sessed the  influence  or  the  legal  author- 
ity claimed  for  him  by  Aragonese  writers, 
— by  Blaucas,  in  particular,  from  whom 
Sempere  borrowed  the  passage  at  second 
hand. 

59  The  law  alluded  to  runs  thus,  “ Ne 
quid  autem  damni  detrimentive  leges  aut 
libertates  nostrse  patiantur,  judex  qui- 
dam  medius  adesto,  ad  quern  a Rege  pro- 
vocare,  si  aliquem  lseserit,  injuriasque 
arcere  si  quas  forsan  Reipub.  intulerit, 
jus  fasque  esto.”  Blancas,  Commen- 
tarii, p.  26. 

60  Such  instances  may  be  found  in  Zu- 
rita, Anales,  tom.  ii.  fol.  385,  414. — Blan- 
cas, Commentarii,  pp.  199,  202-206,  214, 
225.— When  Ximenes  Cerdan,  the  inde- 
pendent Justice  of  John  I.,  removed  cer- 
tain citizens  from  the  prison,  in  which 
they  had  been  unlawfully  confined  by  the 
king,  in  defiance  equally  of  that  officer's 
importunities  and  menaces,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Saragossa,  says  Abarca,  came 
out  in  a body  to  receive  him  on  his  return 
to  the  city,  and  greeted  him  as  the  de- 
fender of  their  ancient  and  natural  liber- 
ties. (Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  i.  fol.  155.) 
So  openly  did  the  Aragonese  support 
their  magistrate  in  the  boldest  exercise 
of  his  authority. 

01  This  occurred  once  under  Peter  III., 
and  twice  under  Alfonso  V.  (Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  iii.  fol.  255. — Blancas,  Com- 


INTRODUCTION. 


423 


sec.  n.] 

mentarii,  pp.  174,  489,  499.)  The  Justice 
was  appointed  by  the  king. 

62  Fueros  y Observancias,  tom.  i.  fol. 

oo 

63  Ibid.,  tom.  i.  fol.  25. 

c*  Ibid,  tom.  i.  lib.  3,  tit.  Forum  Inqui- 
sitionis  Officii  Just.  Arag.,  and  'om.  ii. 
fol.  37-41.— Blancas,  Commentarii,  pp. 
391-399.  The  examination  was  conducted 
in  the  first  instance  before  a court  of  four 
inquisitors,  as  they  were  termed;  who, 
after  a patient  hearing  of  both  sides,  re- 
ported the  result  of  their  examination  to 
a council  of  seventeen,  chosen  like  them 
from  the  Cortes,  from  whose  decision 
there  was  no  appeal.  No  lawyer  was  ad- 
mitted into  this  council,  lest  the  law 
might  be  distorted  by  verbal  quibbles, 
says  Blancas.  The  council,  however,  was 
allowed  the  advice  of  two  of  the  profes- 
sion. They  voted  by  ballot,  and  the  ma- 
jority decided.  Such,  after  various  mod- 
ifications, were  the  regulations  ultimately 
adopted  in  1461,  or  rather  1467.  Robert- 
son appears  to  have  confounded  the 
council  of  seventeen  writh  the  court  of  in- 
quisition. See  his  History  of  Charles  V., 
vol.  i.  note  31. 

g s probably  no  nation  of  the  period 
would  have  displayed  a temperance  simi- 
lar to  that  exhibited  by  the  Aragonese  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  in 
1412;  when  the  people,  having  been  split 
into  factions  by  a contested  succession, 
agreed  to  refer  the  dispute  to  a commit- 
tee of  judges,  elected  equally  from  the 
three  great  provinces  of  the  kingdom; 
who,  after  an  examination  conducted 
with  all  the  forms  of  law,  and  on  the 
same  equitable  principles  as  would  have 
guided  the  determination  of  a private 
suit,  delivered  an  opinion,  which  was  re- 
ceived as  obligatory  on  the  whole  nation. 

60  See  Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  8,  cap.  29, — 
and  the  admirable  sentiments  cited  by 
Blancas  from  the  parliamentary  acts,  in 
1451.  Commentarii,  p.  350.  From  this 
independent  position  must  be  excepted, 
indeed,  the  lower  classes  of  the  peasantry, 
who  seem  to  have  been  in  a more  abject 
state  in  Aragon  than  in  most  other  feudal 
countries.  “ Era  tan  absolute  su  dominio 
(of  their  lords)  que  podian  mater  con 
hambre,  sed,  y frio  & sus  vasallos  de  ser- 
vidumbre.”  (Asso  y Manuel,  Instituci- 
ones,  p.  40,— also  Blancas,  Commentarii, 
p.  309.)  These  serfs  extorted,  in  an  insur- 
rection, the  recognition  of  certain  rights 
from  their  masters,  on  condition  of  pay- 


ing a specified  tax;  whence  the  name 
villanos  de  parada. 

67  Although  the  legislatures  of  the  dif- 
ferent states  of  the  crown  of  Aragon 
were  never  united  in  one  body  when  con- 
vened in  the  same  town,  yet  they  were  so 
averse  to  all  appearance  of  incorporation, 
that  the  monarch  frequently  appointed 
for  the  places  of  meeting  three  distinct 
towns,  within  their  respective  territories 
and  contiguous,  in  order  that  he  might 
pass  the  more  expeditiously  from  one  to 
the  other.  See  Blancas,  Modo  de  Proce- 
der,  cap.  4. 

68  It  is  indeed  true,  that  Peter  HI.,  at 
the  request  of  the  Yalencians,  appointed 
an  Aragonese  knight  Justice  of  that  king- 
dom, in  1283.  (Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  i.  fol. 
281.)  But  we  find  no  further  mention  of 
this  officer,  or  of  the  office.  Nor  have  I 
met  with  any  notice  6f  it  in  the  details  of 
the  Yalencian  constitution,  compiled  by 
Capmany  from  various  writers.  (Prdc- 
tica  y Estilo,  pp.  161-208.)  An  anecdote 
of  Ximenes  Cerdan,  recorded  by  Blancas, 
(Commentarii,  p.  214,)  may  lead  one  to 
infer,  that  the  places  in  Valencia,  which 
received  the  laws  of  Aragon,  acknowl- 
edged the  jurisdiction  of  its  Justicia. 

69  Capmany,  Prdctica  y Estilo,  pp.  62- 
214. — Capmany  has  collected  copious  ma- 
terials, from  a variety  of  authors,  for  the 
parliamentary  history  of  Catalonia  and 
Valencia,  forming  a striking  contrast  to 
the  scantiness  of  information  he  was  able 
to  glean  respecting  Castile.  The  indif- 
ference of  the  Spanish  writers,  till  very 
recently,  to  the  constitutional  antiquities 
of  the  latter  kingdom,  so  much  more  im- 
portant than  the  other  states  of  the  Pe- 
ninsula, is  altogether  inexplicable. 

70  Corbera,  Cataluna  Illustrada,  (N&- 
poles,  1678,)  lib.  1,  c.  17.— Petrus  de  Marca 
cited  a charter  of  Raymond  Berenger, 
count  of  Barcelona,  to  the  city,  as  ancient 
as  1025,  confirming  its  former  privileges. 
See  Marca  Hispanica,  sive  Limes  Hispani- 
cus,  (Parisiis,  1688,)  Apend.  no.  198. 

7 1 Navarrete,  Discurso  Histerico,  apud 
Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  v.  pp.  81, 
82,  112,  113.— Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barce- 
lona, tom.  i.  part.  1,  cap.  1,  pp.  4, 8, 10, 11. 

73  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  part.  1,  cap.  2, 
3.— Capmany  has  given  a register  of  the 
consuls  and  of  the  numerous  stations,  at 
which  they  were  established  throughout 
Africa  and  Europe,  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries,  (tom.  ii.  Apend.  no. 
23.)  These  officers  during  the  Middlo 


424 


INTRODUCTION. 


[SEC.  II. 


Ages  discharged  much  more  important 
duties  than  at  the  present  day,  if  we  ex- 
cept those  few  residing  with  the  Barbary 
powers.  They  settled  the  disputes  aris- 
ing between  their  countrymen,  in  the 
ports  where  they  were  established ; they 
protected  the  trade  of  their  own  nation 
with  these  ports;  and  were  employed  in 
adjusting  commercial  relations,  treaties, 
etc.  In  short,  they  filled  in  some  sort 
the  post  of  a modern  embassador,  or 
resident  minister,  at  a period  when  this 
functionary  was  only  employed  on  ex- 
traordinary occasions. 

73  Macpherson,  Annals  of  Commerce, 
(London,  1825,)  vol.  i.  p.  655.— The  woolen 
manufacture  constituted  the  principal 
staple  of  Barcelona,  (Capmany,  Mem.  de 
Barcelona,  tom.  i.  p.  241.)  The  English 
sovereigns  encouraged  the  Catalan  trad- 
ers by  considerable  immunities  to  fre- 
quent their  ports  during  the  fourteenth 
century.  Macpherson,  ubi  supra,  pp. 
502,  551,  588. 

74  Heeren,  Essai  sur  lTnfluence  des 
Croisades,  traduit  par  Villers,  (Paris, 
1808,)  p.  3T6. — Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barce- 
lona, tom.  i.  p.  213,  also  pp.  170-180. — 
Capmany  fixes  the  date  of  the  publication 
of  the  Consulado  del  Mar  at  the  middle 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  under  James  I. 
He  discusses  and  refutes  the  claims  of 
the  Pisans  to  precedence  in  this  codifica- 
tion See  his  Preliminary  Discourse  to 
the  Costumbres  Maritimas  de  Barcelona. 

76  Navagiero,  Viaggio,  fol.  3.— L.  Ma- 
rineo  styles  it  “the  most  beautiful  city 
he  had  ever  seen,  or  to  speak  more  cor- 
rectly,in  the  whole  world.”  (Cosas 
Memorables,  fol.  18.)  Alfonso  V.,  in  one 
of  his  ordinances,  in  1438,  calls  it  “ urbs 
venerabilis  in  egregiis  templis,  tuta  ut  in 
optimis,  pulchra  in  caeteris  sedificiis,” 
etc.  Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom. 
ii.  Apend.  no.  13. 

76  Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona, 
Apend.  no.  24.  — The  senate  or  great 
council,  though  styled  the  “one  hun- 
dred,” seems  to  have  fluctuated  at  dif- 
ferent times  between  that  number  and 
double  its  amount. 

77  Corbera,  Cataluna  Illustrada,  p.  84. 
—Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom.  ii. 
Apend.  no.  29. 

78  Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom. 
i.  part.  3,  p.  40,  tom.  iii.  part.  2,  pp.  317, 
318. 

79  Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom. 
i.  part.  2,  p.  187,— tom.  ii.  Apend.  30. — 


Capmany  says  principal  nobleza  ; yet  it 
may  be  presumed  that  much  the  larger 
proportion  of  these  noble  candidates  for 
office  was  drawn  from  the  inferior  class 
of  the  privileged  orders,  the  knights  and 
hidalgos.  The  great  barons  of  Catalonia, 
fortified  with  extensive  immunities  and 
wealth,  lived  on  their  estates  in  the  coun- 
try , probably  little  relishing  the  level- 
ling spirit  of  the  burghers  of  Barcelonia. 

80  Barcelonia  revolted  and  was  twice 
besieged  by  the  royal  arms  under  John 
II.;  once  under  Philip  IV.,  twice  under 
Charles  IP,  and  twice  under  Philip  V. 
This  last  time,  1713-14,  in  which  it  held 
out  against  the  combined  forces  of  France 
and  Spain  under  Marshal  Berwick,  is  one 
of  the  most  memorable  events  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  An  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  siege  may  be  found  in  Coxe’s 
Memoirs  of  the  Kings  of  Spain  of  the 
House  of  Bourbon,  (London,  1815,)  vol.  ii. 
chap.  21.— The  late  monarch,  Ferdinand 
VII.,  also  had  occasion  to  feel,  that  the 
independent  spirit  of  the  Catalans  did 
not  become  extinct  with  their  ancient 
constitution. 

81  Viaggio,  fol.  3. 

82  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii. 
fol.  183.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iii.  lib.  12, 
cap.  59. — The  king  turned  his  back  on  the 
magistrates,  who  came  to  pay  their  re- 
spects to  him,  on  learning  his  intention 
of  quitting  the  city.  He  seems,  however, 
to  have  had  the  magnanimity  to  forgive, 
perhaps  to  admire,  the  independent  con- 
duct of  Fiveller ; for  at  his  death,  which 
occurred  very  soon  after,  we  find  this 
citizen  mentioned  as  one  of  his  executors. 
See  Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom. 
ii.  Apend.  29. 

83  The  taxes  were  assessed  in  the  ratio 
of  one-sixth  on  Valencia,  two-sixths  on 
Aragon,  and  three-sixths  on  Catalonia. 
See  Martel,  Forma  de  Celebrar  Cortes, 
cap.  71. 

84  See  the  items  specified  by  Capmany, 
Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom.  i.  pp.  231,  232. 

85  Idem,  tom.  i.  pp.  221,  234.— Capmany 
states,  that  the  statute  of  Alfonso  V.  pro- 
hibited “all  foreign  ships  from  taking 
cargoes  in  the  ports  of  his  dominions.” 
(See  also  Colec.  Dipl.,  tom.  ii.  no.  187.) 
The  object  of  this  law,  like  that  of  the 
British  Navigation  Act,  was  the  encour- 
agement of  the  national  marine.  It  de- 
viated, far,  however,  from  the  sagacious 
policy  of  the  latter,  which  imposed  no  re- 
striction on  the  exportation  of  domestic 


PART  I. — REIGN  OF  JOHN  II. 


425 


CH.  I.] 

produce  to  foreign  countries,  except,  in- 
deed, its  own  colonies. 

80  Andres,  Dell’  Origine,  de’  Progressi, 
e dello  Stato  Attuale  d’  Ogni  Letteratura, 
(Venezia,  1783,)  part.  1,  cap.  11.— Lampil- 
las,  Saggio  Storico-Apologetico  della  Let- 
teratura Spagnuola,  (Genova,  1778,)  part. 
1,  dis.  G,  sec.  7. — Andres  conjectures,  and 
Lampillas  decides,  in  favor  of  Catalonia. 
Arcades  ambo;  and  the  latter  critic,  the 
worst  possible  authority  on  all  questions 
of  national  preference. 

87  Valazquez,  Orlgenes  de  la  Poesla 
Castellana,  (M&laga,  1797,)  pp.  20-22. — 
Andres,  Letteratura,  part.  1,  cap.  11.— 
Alfonso  II.,  Peter  II.,  Peter  III.,  James 
I.,  Peter  IV.,  have  all  left  compositions  in 
the  Limousin  tongue  behind  them;  the 
three  former  in  verse;  the  two  latter  in 
prose,  setting  forth  the  history  of  their 
own  time.  For  a particular  account  of 
their  respective  productions,  see  Latassa, 
(Escritores  Aragoneses,  tom.  i.  p.  175-179, 
185-189,  222,  224,  242-248;  tom.  ii.  p.  26,) 
also  Lanuza,  (Historias  Eclesidsticas  y 
Seculares  de  Aragon,  [Zaragoza,  1622,] 
tom.  i.  p.  553.)  The  Chronicle  of  James 
I.  is  particularly  esteemed  for  its  fidelity. 

88  Whether  Jordi  stole  from  Petrarch, 
or  Petrarch  from  Jordi,  lias  been  matter 
of  hot  debate  between  the  Spanish  and 
French  litterateurs.  Sanchez,  after  a 
careful  examination  of  the  evidence, 
candidly  decides  against  his  country- 
man. (Poesias  Castellanas,  tom.  i.  pp. 
81-84.)  A competent  critic  in  the  Retro- 
spective Review,  (No.  7,  art.  2,)  who  en- 
joyed the  advantage  over  Sanchez  of 
perusing  a MS.  copy  of  Jordi’ s original 
poem,  makes  out  a very  plausable  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  the  originality  of  the 
Vaiencian  poet.  After  all,  as  the  amount 
stolen,  or,  to  speak  more  reverently,  bor- 
rowed, does  not  exceed  half  a dozen 
lines,  it  is  not  of  vital  importance  to  the 
reputation  of  either  poet. 

89  The  abate  Andres  lamented  fifty 
years  ago,  that  the  worms  and  moths 
should  be  allowed  to  revel  among  the 
precious  relics  of  ancient  Castilian  litera- 
ture. (Letteratura,  tom.  ii.  p.  306.)  Have 
their  revels  been  disturbed  yet? 

90  May&ns  y Sisc&r,  Origenes  de  la  Len- 
gua  Espanola,  (Madrid,  1737,)  tom.  ii.  pp. 
323,  324.— Crescimbeni,  Istoria  della  Vol- 
gar  Poesia,  (Venezia,  1731,)  tom.  ii.  p.  170. 
—Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  i.  p.  183. 
— Velazquez,  Poesia  Castellana,  pp.  23, 24 . 

91  Mayans  y Siscar,  Origenes,  tom.  ii. 
pp.  325-327. 


92  Andres,  Letteratura,  tom.  iv.  pp.  85, 
86. — Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom. 
ii.  Apend.  no.  16.— There  were  thirty -two 
chairs,  or  professorships,  founded  and 
maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  city; 
six  of  theology;  six  of  jurisprudence;  five 
of  medicine;  six  of  philosophy;  four  of 
grammar;  one  of  rhetoric;  one  of  sur- 
gery; one  of  anatomy;  one  of  Hebrew, 
and  another  of  Greek.  It  is  singular, 
that  none  should  have  existed  for  the 
Latin,  so  much  more  currently  studied  at 
that  time,  and  of  so  much  more  practical 
application  always,  than  either  of  the 
other  ancient  languages. 

93  The  Vaiencian,  “the  sweetest  and 
most  graceful  of  the  Limousin  dialects,” 
says  Mayans  y Siscar,  Origenes,  tom.  i. 
p.  58. 

94  Nicol&s  Antonio,  Bibliotheca,  His- 
pana  Vetus,  (Matriti,  1788,)  tom.  ii.  p.  146. 
— Andres,  Letteratura,  tom.  iv.  p.  87. 

95  Cervantes,  Don  Quixote,  (ed.  de  Pel- 
licer,  Madrid,  1787,)  tom.  i.  p.  62.— Men- 
dez, Typographia  Espanola,  (Madrid, 
1796,)  pp.  72-75.— Andres,  Letteratura,  ubi 
supra. — Pellicer  seems  to  take  Martorell’s 
word  in  good  earnest,  that  his  book  is 
only  a version  from  the  Castilian.  The 
names  of  some  of  the  most  noted  trouba- 
dours are  collected  by  Valazquez,  Poesia 
Castellana,  (pp.  20-24.— Capmany,  Mem.de 
Barcelona,  tom.  ii.  Apend.  no.  5.)  Some 
extracts  and  pertinent  criticisms  on  their 
productions  may  be  found,  by  the  Eng- 
lish reader  in  the  Retrospective  Review, 
(No.  7,  art.  2.)  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  author  has  not  redeemed  his  pledge 
of  continuing  his  notices  to  the  Castilian 
era  of  Spanish  poetry. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  I. 

1 Sempere  y Guarinos,  Historia  del 
Luxo,  y de  las  Leyes  Suntuarias  de  Es- 
pana, (Madrid,  1788,)  tom.  i.  p.  171. 

2 Cronica  de  Enrique  III.,  edicion  de  la 
Academia,  (Madrid,  1780,)  passim.— Cro- 
nica de  Juan  II.,  (Valencia,  1779,)  p.  6. 

3 Cronica  de  Alvaro  de  Luna,  edicion 
de  la  Academia,  (Madrid,  1784,)  tit.  3,  5, 
68,  74.— Guzman,  Generaciones  y Sem- 
blanzas,  (Madrid,  1775,)  cap.  33,  34.— Abar- 
ca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  en  Anales  Histori 
cos,  (Madrid,  1682,)  tom.  i.  fol.  227.—  Cro- 
nica de  Juan  II.,  passim.— He  possessed 
sixty  towns  and  fortre-sses,  and  kept 
three  thousand  lances  constantly  in  pay. 
Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS. 

4 Guzman,  Generaciones,  cap.  33.— 


426 


PART  I.  — REIGN  OP  JOHN  TI. 


[CH.  I. 


Cronica  de  Don  Juan  II.,  p.  491,  et  alibi. 
His  complaisance  for  the  favorite,  in- 
deed, must  be  admitted,  if  we  believe 
Guzman,  to  have  been  of  a most  extraor- 
dinary kind.  “ E lo  que  con  mayor  mara- 
villa  se  puede  decir  6 oir,  que  aun  en  los 
autos  naturales  se  did  asi  & la  ordenanza 
del  condestable,  que  seyendo  dl  mozo  bien 
complexionado,  6 teniendo  & la  reyna  su 
muger  moza  y hermosa,  si  el  condestable 
se  lo  contradixiese,  no  iria  & dormir  £,  su 
cama  della.  * ’ Ub  i supra . 

5 Marina,  Teoria  de  las  Cortes,  (Mad- 
rid, 1813,)  tom.  i.  cap.  20, — tom.  ii.  pp. 
216,  390,  391, — tom.  iii.  part.  2,  no.  4.— 
Capmany,  Pr&ctica  y Estilo  de  Celebrar 
Cortes  en  Aragon,  Cataluna  y Valencia, 
(Madrid,  1821,)  pp.  234,  235.— Sempere, 
Histoire  des  Cortes  d’Espagne,  (Bor- 
deaux, 1815,)  ch.  18,  24. 

6 Several  of  this  prince’s  laws  for  re- 
dressing the  alleged  grievances  are  in- 
corporated in  the  great  code  of  Philip  II., 
(Recopilacion  de  las  Leyes,  [Madrid  1640,] 
lib.  6,  tit.  7,  leyes  5,  7,  2,)  which  declares, 
in  the  most  unequivocal  language,  the 
right  of  the  commons  to  be  consulted  on 
all  important  matters.  “ Porque  en  los 
liechos  arduos  de  nuestros  reynos  es  ne- 
cessario  consejo  de  nuestros  subditos,  y 
naturales,  especialmente  de  los  procura- 
dores  de  las  nuestros  ciudades , villas,  y 
lugares  de  los  nuestros  reynos.”  It  was 
much  easier  to  extort  good  laws  from 
this  monarch,  than  to  enforce  them. 

7 Marina,  Historia  de  Espana,  (Mad- 
rid, 1780,)  tom.  ii.  p.  299. 

8 Marina,  Teoria,  ubi  supra. 

9 Capmany,  Pr&ctica  y Estilo,  p.  228. — 
Sempere,  Hist,  des  Cortes,  chap.  19. — 
Marina,  Teoria,  part.  1,  cap.  16.— In  1656, 
the  city  of  Palencia  was  content  to  repur- 
chase its  ancient  right  of  representation 
from  the  crown,  at  an  expense  of  80,000 
ducats. 

10  Capmany,  Pr&ctica  y Estilo,  p.  230. 
— Sempere,  Histoire  des  Cortes  d’Espag- 
ne, chap.  19. 

11  Marina,  Teoria,  tom.  1.  p.  161. 

1 2 See  the  ample  collections  of  Sanchez, 
“Poesias  Castellanas  anteriores  al  Siglo 
XV.”  4 tom.  Madrid,  1779-1790. 

13  Guzman,  Generaciones,  cap.  33. — 
Gomez  de  Cibdareal,  Centon  Epistolario, 
(Madrid,  1775,)  epist.  20,  49.— Cibdareal 
has  given  us  a specimen  of  this  royal 
criticism,  which  Juan  de  Mena,  the  sub- 
ject of  it,  was  courtier  enough  to  adopt. 


14  Velazquez,  Origenes.  de  la  Poesia 
Castellana,  (Malaga,  1797,)  p.  45.— San- 
chez, Poesias  Castellanas,  tom.  i.  p.  10.— 
“The  Cancioneros  General  es,  in  print 
and  in  manuscript,”  says  Sanchez, 
“show  the  great  number  of  dukes,  counts, 
marquises,  and  other  nobles,  who  culti- 
vated this  art.” 

15  He  was  the  grandson,  not,  as  San- 
chez supposes  (tom.  i.  p.  15),  the  son,  of 
Alonso  de  Villena,  the  first  marquis  as 
well  as  constable  created  in  Castile,  de- 
scended from  James  II.  of  Aragon.  (See 
Dormer,  Enmiendas  y Advertencias  de 
Zurita,  [Zaragoza,  1683,]  pp.  371-376.  His 
mother  was  an  illegitimate  daughter  of 
Henry  II.,  of  Castile.  Guzman,  Genera- 
ciones,  cap.  28. — Salazar  de  Mendoza, 
Monarquia  de  Espana,  (Madrid,  177'0,) 
tom.  i.  pp.  203,  339. 

16  Guzman,  Generaciones,  cap.  28. — 
Juan  de  Mena  introduces  Villena  into  his 
“ Laberinto,”  in  an  agreeable  stanza, 
which  has  something  of  the  mannerism 
of  Dante : 

“ Aquel  claro  padre  aquel  dulce  fuente 
aquel  que  en  el  castolo  monte  resuena 
es  don  Enrique  Senor  de  Villena 
lionrra  de  Espana  y del  siglo  presente,”  etc. 
Juan  de  Mena,  Obras,  (Alcald,  1566,)  fol. 
138. 

17  The  recent  Castilian  translators  of 
Bouterwek’s  History  of  Spanish  Litera- 
ture have  fallen  into  an  error  in  imput- 
ing the  beautiful  cancion  of  the  “Que- 
rella  de  Amor  ” to  Villena.  It  was  com- 
posed by  the  Marquis  of  Santillana. 
(Bouterwek,  Historia  de  laLiteratura  Es- 
panola, traducida  por  Cortina  y Hugalde 
y Mollinedo,  [Madrid,  1829,]  p.  196,  and 
Sanchez,  Poesias  Castellanas,  tom.  i.  pp. 
38,  143.)  The  mistake  into  which  Nicol&s 
Antonio  had  a>so  fallen  in  supposing 
Villena’s  “Trabajos  de  Hercules,”  writ- 
ten in  verse,  has  been  subsequently  cor- 
rected by  his  learned  commentator  Bayer. 
See  Nicol&s  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Hispana 
Vetus,  (Matriti,  1788,)  tom.  ii.  p.  222,  nota. 

18  Velazquez,  Origenes  de  la  Poesia 
Castellana,  p.  45. — Bouterwek,  Literatura 
Espanola,  trad,  de  Cortina  y Mollinedo, 
nota  S. 

19  See  an  abstract  of  it  in  Mayans  y 
Siscar,  Orlgines  de  la  Lengua  Espanola, 
(Madrid,  1737,)  tom.  ii.  pp.  321  et  seq. 

20  Zurita,  Anales  de  la  Corona  de  Ara- 
gon, (Zaragoza,  1669,)  tom.  iii.  p.  227.— 
Guzman,  Generaciones,  cap.  28. 

21  Centon  Epistolario,  epist.  66.— The 


PART  I. — REIGN  OF  JOHN  II. 


427 


CH.  I.] 

bishop  endeavored  to  transfer  the  blame 
of  the  conflagration  to  the  king.  There 
can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  the 
good  father  infused  the  suspicions  of 
necromancy  into  his  master’s  bosom. 
“The  angels,”  he  says  in  one  of  his 
works,  “who  guard  Paradise,  presented  a 
treatise  on  magic  to  one  of  the  posterity 
of  Adam,  from  a copy  of  which  Villena 
derived  his  science.”  (See  Juan  de  Mena, 
Obras,  fol.  139,  glosa.)  One  would  think 
that  such  an  orthodox  source  might  have 
justified  Villena  in  the  use  of  it. 

22  Comp.  Juan  de  Mena,  Obras,  copl. 
127,  128;  and  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca 
Vetus,  tom.  ii.  p.  220. 

23  Pulgar,  Claros  Varones  de  Castilla, 
y Letras,  (Madrid,  1755,)  tit.  4.— Nic.  An- 
tonio, Bibliotheca  Vetus,  lib.  10,  cap.  9.— 
Quincuagenas  de  Gonzalo  de  Oviedo, 
MS.,  batalla  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  8. 

24  Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Obras,  ed.de 
Herrera,  (1580,)  pp.  75,  76.— Sanchez,  Poe- 
sias  Castellanas,  tom.  i.  p.  21.— Boscan, 
Obras,  (1543,)  fol.  19.— It  must  be  admit- 
ted, however,  that  the  attempt  was  pre- 
mature, and  that  it  required  a riper  stage 
of  the  language  to  give  a permanent 
character  to  the  innovation. 

26  See  Sanchez,  Poesias  Castellanas, 
tom.  i.  pp.  1-119. — A copious  catalogue  of 
the  marquis  de  Santillana’s  writings  is 
given  in  the  same  volume,  (pp.  33  et  seq.) 
Several  of  his  poetical  pieces  are  collect- 
ed in  the  Cancionero  General,  (Anvers, 
1573,)  fol.  34  et  seq. 

26  Pulgar,  Claros  Varones,  tit.  4.— 
Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Monarqula,  tom.  i. 
p.  218.— Idem,  Orlgen  de  las  Dignidades 
Seglares  de  Castilla  y Leon,  (Madrid, 
1794,)  p.  285.— Oviedo  makes  the  marquis 
much  older,  seventy-five  years  of  age, 
when  he  died.  He  left,  besides  daugh- 
ters, six  sons,  who  all  became  the  found- 
ers of  noble  and  powerful  houses.  See 
the  whole  genealogy,  in  Oviedo,  Quin- 
cuagenas, MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  8. 

27  “Flor  de  saber  y cabelleria.”  El 
Laberinto,  copla  114. 

28  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Vetus, 
torn.  ii.  pp.  205  et  seq. 

29  Cibdareal,  Centon  Epistolario,  epist. 
47,  49. 

30  See  Velazquez,  Poesia  Castellana, 
p.  49. 

31  A collection  of  them  is  incorporated 
in  the  Cancionero  General,  fol.  41  et  seq. 

32  Castro,  Biblioteca  Espanola,  (Mad- 


rid, 1781,)  tom.  i.  pp.  266,  267.— This  in- 
teresting document,  the  most  primitive  of 
all  the  Spanish  cancioneros,  notwith- 
standing its  local  position  in  the  library  is 
specified  by  Castro  with  great  precision, 
eluded  the  search  of  the  industrious 
translators  of  Bouterwek,  who  think  it 
may  have  disappeared  during  the  French 
invasion.  Literatura  Espanola,  trad,  de 
Cortina  y Mollinedo,  p.  205,  nota,  Hh. 

33  See  these  collected  in  Castro,  Biblio- 
teca Espanola,  tom.  ii.  p.  265  et  seq. — The 
veneration  entertained  for  the  poetic  art 
in  that  day  may  be  conceived  from 
Baena’s  whimsical  prologue.  “ Poetry,” 
he  says,  “or  the  gay  science,  is  a very 
subtile  and  delightsome  composition.  It 
demands  in  him,  who  would  hope  to  ex- 
cel in  it,  a curious  invention,  a sane  judg- 
ment, a various  scholarship,  familiarity 
with  courts  and  public  affairs,  high 
birth  and  breeding,  a temperate,  cour- 
teous, and  liberal  disposition,  and,  in  fine, 
honey,  sugar,  salt,  freedom,  and  hilarity 
in  his  discourse.”  p.  268. 

34  Castro,  Biblioteca  Espafiola,  tom.  i. 
p.*  273. 

35  Perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  of 
these  historical  compositions  for  mere 
literary  execution  is  the  Chronicle  of 
Alvaro  de  Luna,  to  which  I have  had  oc- 
casion to  refer,  edited  in  1784,  by  Flores, 
the  diligent  secretary  of  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy of  History.  He  justly  commends  it 
for  the  purity  and  harmony  of  its  diction. 
The  loyalty  of  the  chronicler  seduces  him 
sometimes  into  a swell  of  panegyric, 
which  may  be  thought  to  savor  too 
strongly  of  the  current  defect  of  Castil- 
ian prose;  but  it  more  frequently  im- 
parts to  his  narrative  a generous  glow  of 
sentiment,  raising  it  far  above  the  life- 
less details  of  ordinary  history,  and  oc- 
casionally even  to  positive  eloquence. 
Nic.  Antonio,  in  the  tenth  book  of  his 
great  repository,  has  assembled  the  bio- 
graphical and  bibliographical  notices  of 
the  various  Spanish  authors  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  whose  labors  diffused  a 
glimmering  of  light  over  their  own  age, 
which  has  become  faint  in  the  superior 
illumination  of  the  succeeding. 

36  Sempere  in  his  Historia  del  Luxo, 
(tom.  i.  p.  177,)  has  published  an  extract 
from  an  unprinted  manuscript  of  the 
celebrated  marquis  of  Villena,  entitled 
Triunfo  de  las  Donas , in  which,  advert- 
ing to  the  petits-moitres  of  his  time,  he 
recapitulates  the  fashionable  arts  em- 


428 


PART  I.  — REIGN  OF  JOHN  II. 


ployed  by  them  for  the  embellishment  of 
the  person,  with  a degree  of  minuteness, 
which  might  edify  a modern  dandy. 

37  Cronica  de  Juan  II.,  p.  499. — Faria  y 
Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa,  (1679,)  tom. 
ii.  pp.  335,  372. 

38  Crfinica  de  Alvaro  de  Luna,  tit.  128. 
— Cr6nica  de  Juan  II.,  pp.  457,  460,  572.— 
Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  fol. 
227,  228.— Garibay,  Compendio  Historial 
de  las  Chrdnicas  de  Espana,  (Barcelona, 
1628,)  tom.  ii.  p.  493. 

39  Crdnica  de  Alvaro  de  Luna,  tit.  128. 
— What  a contrast  to  all  this  is  afforded 
by  the  vivid  portrait,  sketched  by  Joan 
de  Mena,  of  the  constable  in  the  noon- 
tide of  his  glory. 

“ Este  caualga  sobre  la  fortuna 
y doma  su  cuello  con  asperas  riendas 
y aunque  del  tenga  tan  muchas  de  prendas 
ella  non  le  osa  tocar  de  ninguna,”  etc. 

Laberinto,  coplas  235  et  seq. 

40  Cibdareal,  Centon  Epistolario,  ep. 
103.— Crdnica  de  Juan  II.,  p.  564.— Cronica 
de  Alvaro  de  Luna,  tit.  128,  and  Apend. 
p.  458. 

41  Entitled  “Doctrinal  de  Privados.” 
See  the  Cancionero  General,  fol.  37  et  seq. 
—In  the  following  stanza,  the  constable 
is  made  to  moralize  with  good  effect  on 
the  instability  of  worldly  grandeur : 

“ Que  se  hizo  la  moneda 
que  guarde  para  mis  danos 
tantos  tiempos  tantos  anos 
plata  joy  as  oro  y seda 
y de  todo  no  me  queda 
sino  este  cadahalso ; 
mundo  malo  mundo  falso 
no  ay  quien  contigo  pueda.” 

Manrique  has  the  same  sentiments  in  his 
exquisite  “ Coplas.”  I give  Longfellow's 
version,  as  spirited  as  it  is  literal : 

“ Spain’s  haughty  Constable,— the  great 
And  gallant  Master,— cruel  fate 
Stripped  him  of  all. 

Breathe  not  a whisper  of  his  pride, 

He  on  the  gloomy  scaffold  died, 

Ignoble  fall ! 

The  countless  treasures  of  his  care, 
Hamlets  and  villas  green  and  fair, 

His  mighty  power,— 

What  were  they  all  but  grief  and  shame, 
Tears  and  a broken  heart,— when  came 
The  parting  hour ! ” 

Stanza  21. 

48  Cibdareal,  Centon  Epistolario,  ep. 
103.— Crdnica  de  Alvaro  de  Luna,  tit.  128. 

43  Cronica  de  Juan  II.,  p.  576. — Cibda- 
real, Centon  Epistolario,  epist.  105.  There 
has  been  considerable  discrepancy,  even 
among  contemporary  writers,  both  as  to 
the  place  and  the  epoch  of  Isabella’s 


[CH.  II. 

birth,  amounting,  as  regards  the  latter, 
to  nearly  two  years.  I have  adopted  the 
conclusion  of  Sehor  Clemencin,  formed 
from  a careful  collation  of  the  various 
authorities,  in  the  sixth  volume  of  the 
Memorias  de  la  Real  Academia  de  Histo- 
ria,  (Madrid,  1821,)  Ilust.  1,  pp.  56-60.  Is- 
abella was  descended  both  on  the  father’s 
and  mother’s  side  from  the  famous  John 
of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster.  See  Florez, 
Memorias  de  las  Reynas  Cathdlicas,  (2d 
ed.  Madrid,  1770,)  tom.  ii.  pp.  743,  787. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  II. 

1 The  reader  who  may  be  curious  in 
this  matter  will  find  the  pedigree  exhibit- 
ing the  titles  of  the  several  competitors 
to  the  crown  given  by  Mr.  Hallam.  (State 
of  Europe  during  the  Middle  Ages,  [2d 
ed.  London,  1819,]  voi.  ii.  p.  60,  note.)  The 
claims  of  Ferdinand  were  certainly  not 
derived  from  the  usual  laws  of  descent. 

2 The  reader  of  Spanish  history  often 
experiences  embarrassment  from  tne 
identity  of  names  in  the  various  princes 
of  the  Peninsula.  Thus  the  John,  men- 
tioned in  the  text,  afterwards  John  II., 
might  be  easily  confounded  with  his 
namesake  and  contemporary,  John  II., 
of  Castile.  The  genealogical  table,  at  the 
beginning  of  this  History,  will  show  their 
relationship  to  each  other. 

3 His  grandfather,  Charles  III.,  crea- 
ted this  title  in  favor  of  Carlos,  appro- 
priating it  as  the  designation  henceforth 
of  the  heir  apparent. — Aleson,  Anales  del 
Reyno  de  Navarra,  contin.  de  Moret, 
(Pamplona,  1766,)  tom.  iv.  p.  398.— Sala- 
zar de  Mendoza,  Monarquia,  tom.  ii.  p. 
331. 

4 See  Part  I.  Chap.  3,  Note  5,  of  this 
History. 

6  This  fact,  vaguely  and  variously  re- 
ported by  Spanish  writers,  is  fully  estab- 
lished by  Aleson,  who  cites  the  original 
instrument,  contained  in  the  archives  of 
the  counts  of  Lerin.  Anales  de  Navarra, 
tom.  iv.  pp.  354,  365. 

6 See  the  reference  to  the  original 
document  in  Aleson.  (Tom.  iv.  pp.  365, 
366.)  This  industrious  writer  has  estab- 
lished the  title  of  Prince  Carlos  to  Na- 
varre, so  frequently  misunderstood  or 
misrepresented  by  the  national  histo- 
rians, on  an  incontestable  basis. 

7 Ibid.,  tom.  iv.  p.  467. 

8 See  Part  I.  Chap.  3,  of  this  work. 

9 Gaillard  errs  in  referring  the  origin 
of  these  factions  to  this  epoch.  (His- 


PART  I. — REIGN  OF  JOHN  II. 


429 


CH.  II.] 

toire  de  la  Rivalite  de  France  et  de  l’Es- 
pagne,  [Paris,  1801,]  tom.  iii.  p.  227.) 
Aleson  quotes  a proclamation  of  John  in 
relation  to  them  in  the  lifetime  of  Queen 
Blanche.  Annales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv. 
p.  494. 

10  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iii.  fol.  278.— 
Lucio  Marineo  Siculo,  Coronista  de  sus 
Magestades,  Las  Cosas  Memorables  de 
Espana,  (Alcala  de  Henares,  1539,)  fol. 
104. — Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv. 
pp.  494r-498. 

11  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii. 
fol.  223.  — Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra, 
tom.  iv.  pp.  501-503. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas 
Memorables,  fol.  105. 

12  Compendio,  tom.  iii.  p.  419.— L.  Mari- 
neo describes  the  heavens  as  uncommon- 
ly serene  at  the  moment  of  Ferdinand’s 
birth.  “ The  sun,  which  had  been  ob- 
scured with  clouds  during  the  whole  day, 
suddenly  broke  forth  with  unwonted 
splendor.  A crown  was  also  beheld  in 
the  sky,  composed  of  various  brilliant 
colors  like  those  of  a rainbow.  All  which 
appearances  were  interpreted  by  the 
spectators  as  an  omen,  that  the  child 
then  born  would  be  the  most  illustrious 
among  men.”  (Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
153.)  Garibay  postpones  the  nativity  of 
Ferdinand  to  the  year  1453,  and  L.  Mari- 
neo, who  ascertains  with  .curious  pre- 
cision even  the  date  of  his  conception, 
fixes  his  birth  in  1450.  (fol.  153.)  But 
Alonso  de  Palencia  in  his  History,  (Ver- 
dadera  Cordnica  de  Don  Enrique  IV., 
Rei  de  Castilla  y Leon,  y del  Rei  Don 
Alonso  su  Hermano,  MS.)  and  Andrds 
Bernaldez,  Cura  de  Los  Palacios,  (His- 
toria  de  los  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  c.  8,) 
both  of  them  contemporaries,  refer  this 
event  to  the  period  assigned  in  the  text; 
and,  as  the  same  epoch  is  adopted  by  the 
accurate  Zurita,  (Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  9,) 
I have  given  it  the  preference. 

13  Zurita,  Anales  tom.  iv.  fol.  3-48.— 
Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv.  pp. 
508-526.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables, 
fol.  105. 

14  Giannone,  Istoria  Civile  del  Regno 
di  Napoli,  (Milano,  1823,)  lib.  26,  c.  7. — 
Ferreras,  Histoire  Generale  d’Espagne, 
trad,  par  D’Hermilly,  (Paris,  1751,)  tom. 
vii.  p.  60.— L’Histoire  du  Royaume  de 
Navarre,  par  l’un  des  Secretaires  Inter- 
prettes  de  sa  Majestd,  (Paris,  1596,)  p.  468. 

16  Compare  the  narrative  of  the  Nea- 
politan historians,  Summonte,  (Historia 
della  Citt&  e Regno  di  Napoli,  [Napoli, 


1675,]  lib.  5,  c.  2,)  and  Giannone,  (Istoria 
Civile,  lib.  26,  c.  7, — lib.  27.  Introd.,)  with 
the  opposite  statements  of  L.  Marineo, 
Cosas  Memorables,  (fol.  106,)  himself  a 
contemporary,  Aleson,  (Anales  de  Navar- 
ra, tom.  iv.  p.  546,)  and  other  Spanish 
writers. 

16  Enriquez  del  Castillo,  Crdnica  de  En- 
rique el  Quarto,  (Madrid,  1787,)  cap.  43. 

17  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  97. — Nic. 
Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Vetus,  tom.  ii.  p. 
282. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
106.— Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii. 
fol.  250.  — Carlos  bargained  with  Pope 
Pius  II.  for  a transfer  of  this  library,  par- 
ticularly rich  in  the  ancient  classics,  to 
Spain,  which  was  eventually  defeated  by 
his  death.  Zurita,  who  visited  the  monas- 
tery containing  it  nearly  a century  after 
this  period,  found  its  inmates  possessed 
of  many  traditionary  anecdotes  respect- 
ing the  prince  during  his  seclusion  among 
them. 

18  Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv. 
pp.  548-554. — Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon, 
tom.  ii.  fol.  251.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv. 
fol.  60-69. 

19  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  ubi  supra. 
— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  70-75. — Ale- 
son, Anales  de  Narvarra,  tom.  iv.  p.  556. 

20  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
108.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  17,  cap.  8. — Ale- 
son, Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv.  pp.  556, 
557.— Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap.  27. 

21  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
108,  109.— Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom. 
ii.  fol.  252. — Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  17,  cap. 
45. — Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  ii. 
p.  357. 

22  Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  ii. 
p.  358. — Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  17,  cap.  6. — 
Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  fol. 
253. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
111. 

23  Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  17,  cap.  6.— L. 
Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  111. 

24  Castillo,  Cr6nica,  cap.  28. — Abarca, 
Reyes  de  Aragon,  fol.  253,  254.— L.  Mari- 
neo, Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  Ill,  112. — 
Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv.  pp. 
559,  560.— The  inhabitants  of  Tarraca 
closed  their  gates  upon  the  queen,  and 
rung  the  bells  on  her  approach,  the  sig- 
nal of  alarm  on  the  appearance  of  an 
enemy,  or  for  the  pursuit  of  a malefactor. 

25  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cr6nica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  51. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Mem 
orables,  fol.  114. — Aleson,  Anales  de  Na~ 


430 


PART  J. — REIGN  OF  JOHN  II. 


varra,  tom.  iv.  pp.  561-563.— Zurita,  Ana- 
les,  cap.  19,  24. 

26  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
106.— “Por  quanto  era  la  templanga  y 
mesura  de  aquel  principe  ; tan  grande  el 
concierto  y su  crianga  y costumbres,  la 
limpieza  de  su  vida,  su  liberalidad  y mag- 
nificencia,  y finalmente  su  dulce  conver- 
sacion,  que  ninguna  cosa  en  el  faltava  de 
aquellas  que  pertenescen  a recta  vivir;  y 
que  arman  el  verdadero  y perfecto  prin- 
cipe  y senor.” 

27  Gundisalvus  Garsias,  apud  Nic.  An- 
tonio, Bibliotheca  Vetus,  tom.  ii.  p.  281. 

28  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Vetus, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  281,  282.— Marina,  Hist,  de  Es- 
paila,  tom.  ii.  p.  434. 

29  This  treaty  was  signed  at  Olit  in  Na- 
varre, April  12th,  1462. — Zurita,  Anales, 
lib.  17,  cap.  38,  39.— Gaillard,  Rivalite, 
tom.  iii.  p.  235.— Gaillard  confounds  it 
with  the  subsequent  one  made  in  the 
month  of  May,  near  the  town  of  Salva- 
tierra  in  Bearne. 

3°  Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  vii. 

p.  110. 

31  Hist,  du  Royaume  de  Navarre,  p. 
496.— Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv. 
pp.  590-593. — Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon, 
tom.  ii.  fol.  258,  259. — Zurita,  Anales,  lib. 
17,  cap.  38. 

32  Lebrija,  De  Bello  Navariensi,  (Gran- 
atse,  1515,)  lib.  1,  cap.  1,  fol.  74. — Aleson, 
Anales  de  Navarra,  ubi  supra.— Zurita, 
Anales,  lib.  17,  cap.  38. — The  Spanish  his- 
torians are  not  agreed  as  to  the  time  or 
even  mode  of  Blanche’s  death.  All  con- 
cur, however,  in  attributing  it  to  assas- 
sination, and  most  of  them,  with  the 
learned  Antonio  Lebrija,  a contempo- 
rary, (loc.  cit.)  in  imputing  it  to  poison. 
The  fact  of  her  death,  which  Aleson,  on 
I know  not  what  authority,  refers  to  the 
2d  of  December,  1464,  was  not  publicly 
disclosed  till  some  months  after  its  occur- 
rence, when  disclosure  became  necessary 
in  consequence  of  the  proposed  interposi- 
tion of  the  Navarrese  Cortes. 

33  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  51.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv. 
fol.  98.— Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom. 
ii.  fol.  256. — Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra, 
tom.  iv.  pp.  563  et  seq.— L.  Marineo,  Co- 
sas Memorables,  fol.  114. — According  to 
Lanuza,  who  wrote  nearly  two  centuries 
after  the  death  of  Carlos,  the  flesh  upon 
his  right  arm,  which  had  been  amputa- 
ted for  the  purpose  of  a more  conven- 
ient application  to  the  diseased  inem- 


[CH.  II. 

bers  of  the  pilgrims  who  visited  his 
shrine,  remained  in  his  day  in  a perfect- 
ly sound  and  healthful  state ! (Historias 
Ecclesi&sticas  y Seculares  de  Aragon, 
[Zaragoza,  1622,]  tom.  i.  p.  553.)  Aleson 
wonders  that  any  should  doubt  the  truth 
of  miracles,  attested  by  the  monks  of  the 
very  monastery  in  which  Carlos  was  in- 
terred. 

34  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
116. — Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  51. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv. 
fol.  113.  The  Spaniards,  deriving  the 
knowledge  of  artillery  from  the  Arabs, 
had  become  familiar  with  it  before  the 
other  nations  of  Christendom.  The 
affirmation  of  Zurita,  however,  that  5,000 
balls  were  fired  from  the  battery  of  the 
besiegers  at  Gerona  in  one  day,  is  per- 
fectly absurd.  So  little  was  the  science 
of  gunnery  advanced  in  other  parts  of 
Europe  at  this  period,  and  indeed  later, 
that  it  was  usual  for  a field-piece  not  to 
be  discharged  more  than  twice  in  the 
course  of  an  action,  if  we  may  credit 
Machiavelli,  who,  indeed,  recommends 
dispensing  with  the  use  of  artillery  alto- 
gether. Arte  della  Guerra,  lib.  3.  (Opere, 
Genova,  1798.) 

35  Alonso  de  Palencia.  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  2,  c.  51.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memo- 
rables, fol.  116. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv. 
fol.  113.— Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom. 
ii.  fol.  259. 

36  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  111. — 
Another  100,000  crowns  were  to  be  paid  in 
case  further  assistance  should  be  required 
from  the  French  monarch  after  the  re- 
duction of  Barcelona.  This  treaty  has 
been  incorrectly  reported  by  most  of  the 
French  and  all  the  Spanish  historians 
whom  I have  consulted,  save  the  accurate 
Zurita.  An  abstract  from  the  original 
documents,  compiled  by  the  Abbd  Le- 
grand,  has  been  given  by  M.  Petitot  in  his 
recent  edition  of  the  Collection  des  M6- 
moires  relatifs  & l’Histoire  de  France, 
(Paris,  1836,)  tom.  xi.  Introd.  p.  245. 

37  A French  lance,  or  man  at  arms,  of 
that  day,  according  to  L.  Marineo,  was 
accompanied  by  two  horsemen  ; so  that 
the  whole  contingent  of  cavalry  to  be 
furnished  on  this  occasion  amounted  to 
2,100.  (Cosas  Mem®rables,  fol.  117.)  Noth- 
ing could  be  more  indeterminate  than 
the  complement  of  a lance  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  It  is  not  unusual  to  find  it  reck- 
oned at  five  or  six  horsemen. 

38  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  113-115. 


CH.  II. 


PART  I. — REIGN  OF  JOHN  II. 


431 


— Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  1. 

39  In  conformity  with  the  famous  ver- 
dict given  by  Louis  XI.  at  Bayonne,  April 
23d,  1463,  previously  to  the  interview  be- 
tween him  and  Henry  IV.  on  the  shores 
of  the  Bidassoa.  See  Part.  I.  Chap.  3.  of 
this  History. 

40  This  was  the  battle-ground  of  Julius 
Caesar  in  his  wars  with  Pompey.  See  his 
ingenious  military  manoeuvre  as  simply 
narrated  in  his  own  Commentaries,  (De 
Bello  Civili,  tom.  i.  p.  54,)  and  by  Lucan, 
(Pharsalia,  lib.  4,)  with  his  usual  swell  of 
hyperbole. 

41  The  cold  was  so  intense  at  the  siege 
of  Amposta,  that  serpents  of  an  enormous 
magnitude  are  reported  by  L.  Marineo  to 
have  descended  from  the  mountains,  and 
taken  refuge  in  the  camp  of  the  besieg- 
ers. Portentous  and  supernatural  voices 
were  frequently  heard  during  the  nights. 
Indeed  the  superstition  of  the  soldiers  ap- 
pears to  have  been  so  lively  as  to  have 
prepared  them  for  seeing  and  hearing 
any  thing. 

42  Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa, 
tom.  ii.  p.  390. — Alonso  de  Palencia,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  60,  61. — Castillo,  Crdnica,  pp. 
43,  44,  46,  49,  50,  54. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom. 
ii.  fol.  116,  124,  127,  128,  130,  137,  147.— M. 
La  Clede  states,  that  “Don  Pedro  no 
sooner  arrived  in  Catalonia,  than  he  was 
poisoned.”  (Histoire  Gdndrale  de  Portu- 
gal, [Paris.  1735,]  tom.  iii.  p.  245.)  It  must 
have  been  a very  slow  poison.  He  ar- 
rived January  21st,  1464,  and  died  June 
29th,  1466. 

43  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  “Anne  of 
Geierstein,”  has  brought  into  full  relief 
the  ridiculous  side  of  Rend’s  character. 
The  good  king’s  fondness  for  poetry  and 
the  arts,  however,  although  showing  it- 
self occasionally  in  puerile  eccentricities, 
may  compare  advantageously  with  the 
coarse  appetites  and  mischievous  activ- 
ity of  most  of  the  contemporary  princes. 
After  all,  the  best  tribute  to  his  worth 
was  the  earnest  attachment  of  his  peo- 
ple. His  biography  has  been  well  and 
diligently  compiled  by  the  viscount  of 
Villeneuve  Bargemont,  (Histoire  de  Rend 
d'Anjou,  Paris,  1825,)  who  has,  however, 
indulged  in  greater  detail  than  was  per- 
haps to  have  been  desired  by  Rene,  or 
his  readers. 

44  Comines  says  of  him,  “A  tous  alar- 
raes  c’estoit  le  premier  homme  armd,  et 
de  toutes  pieces,  et  son  cheval  tous  jours 


barde.  II  portoit  un  kabillement  qu© 
ces  conducteurs  portent  en  Italie,  et  sem- 
bloit  bien  prince  et  chef  de  guerre ; et  y 
avoit  d’obeissance  autant  que  monseig- 
neur de  Charolois,  et  luy  obeissoit  tout 
Post  de  meilleur  coeur,  car  a la  vdritd  il 
estoit  digne  d’estre  honore.  ’ ’ Philippe  de 
Comines,  Memoires,  apud  Petitot;  (Paris, 
1826,)  liv.  1,  chap.  11. 

46  Villeneuve  Bargemont,  Hist,  de 
Rend,  tom.  ii.  pp.  168,  169. — Histoire  de 
Louys  XI.,  autrement  dicte  La  Chronique 
Scandaleuse,  par  un  Greffier  de  P Hostel 
de  Ville  de  Paris,  (Paris,  1620,)  p.  145. — 
Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  150,  153. — 
Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  part. 
2,  cap.  17. — Palencia  swells  the  numbers 
of  the  French  in  the  service  of  the  duke 
of  Lorraine  to  20,000. 

46  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 

139. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  148,  149, 
158.— Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv. 
pp.  611-613.— Duclos,  Hist,  de  Louis  XI., 
(Amsterdam,  1746,)  tom.  ii.  p.  114. — Mdm. 
de  Comines,  Introd.  p.  258,  apud  Petitot. 

47  Villeneuve  Bargemont,  Hist,  de  Re- 
nd, tom.  ii.  pp.  182,  183.  L.  Marineo,  fol. 

140. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  153-164, 
— Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  rey. 
29,  cap.  7. 

48  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  88.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memo- 
rabies,  fol.  143.  Aleson,  Anales  de  Navar- 
ra, tom.  iv.  p.  609. — The  queen’s  death  was 
said  to  have  been  caused  by  a cancer. 
According  to  Aleson  and  some  other 
Spanish  writers,  Joan  was  heard  several 
times,  in  her  last  illness,  to  exclaim,  in 
allusion,  as  was  supposed,  to  her  assassi- 
nation of  Carlos,  “Alas!  Ferdinand,  how 
dear  thou  hast  cost  thy  mother  ! ” I find 
no  notice  of  this  improbable  confession 
in  any  contemporary  author. 

49  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espaiia,  tom.  ii.  pp. 
459„  460.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables, 
fol.  141. — Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica, 
MS.,  cap.  88. 

60  Villeneuve  Bargemont,  Hist.  deRend, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  182,  333,  334.— L.  Marineo,  Co- 
sas Memorables,  fol.  142. — Alonso  de  Pa- 
lencia, Cordnica,  part.  2,  cap.  39.— Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  178.— According  to 
M.  de  Villeneuve  Bargemont,  the  prin- 
cess Isabella’s  hand  had  been  offered  to 
the  duke  of  Lorraine,  and  the  envoy  des- 
patched to  notify  his  acceptance  of  it,  on 
arriving  at  the  court  of  Castile,  received 
from  the  lips  of  Henry  IV.  the  first  tid- 
ings of  his  master's  death,  (tom.  ii.  p. 


43  2 


PART  I. — CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


[CH.  III. 


184.1  He  must  have  learned  too  with  no 
less  surprise  that  Isabella  had  already 
been  married  at  that  time  more  than  a 
year ! See  the  date  of  the  official  mar- 
riage recorded  in  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 
Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Apend.  no.  4. 

61  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  29,  45. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom. 
iv.  fol.  180-183.—  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Ara- 
gon, rey.  29,  cap.  29. 

62  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
144,  147. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  187, 
188. — Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  1. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  HI. 

1 “Nil  pudet  assuetos  sceptris : mitissima 

sors  est 

Regno  rum  sub  rege  novo.” 

Lucan.  Pharsalia,  lib.  8. 

2 Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  8. — Rodericus  Sanctius,  His- 
toria  Hispanica,  cap.  38,  39.— Pulgar,  Cla- 
ros  Varones,  tit.  1.— Castillo,  Crdnica,  i. 
20. — Guzman,  Generaciones,  cap.  33. — Al- 
though Henry’s  lavish  expenditure,  par- 
ticularly on  works  of  architecture,  gained 
him  in  early  life  the  appellation  of  “the 
Liberal,”  he  is  better  known  on  the  roll 
of  Castilian  sovereigns  by  the  less  flatter- 
ing title  of  “ the  Impotent.” 

3 Zuniga,  Anales  Eclesiusticos  y Secu- 
lares  de  Sevilla,  (Madrid,  1GG7,)  p.  341. — 
Castillo,  Cronica,  cap.  20. — Marina,  Hist, 
de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  pp.  415,  419. — Alonso 
de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS.,  part.  1,  cap. 
14  ct  seq. — The  surprise  of  Gibraltar,  the 
unhappy  source  of  feud  between  the 
families  of  Guzman  and  Ponce  de  Leon, 
did  not  occur  till  a later  period,  1462. 

4 Such  was  his  apathy,  says  Marina, 
that  he  would  subscribe  his  name  to 
public  ordinances,  without  taking  the 
trouble  to  acquaint  himself  with  their 
contents.  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  p.  423. 

6  Pulgar,  Cronica  de  los  Reyes  Catoli- 
cos,  (Valencia,  1780,)  cap.  2. — Alonso  de 
Palencia,  Coronica,  MS.,  part,  1,  cap.  4.— 
Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv.  pp. 
519,  520. — The  marriage  between  Blanche 
and  Henry  was  publicly  declared  void  by 
the  bishop  of  Segovia,  confirmed  by  the 
archbishop  of  Toledo,  “por  impotencia 
respectiva , owing  to  some  malign  influ- 
ence 1” 

6 La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iii. 
pp.  325,  345.— Florez,  Reynas  Cath61icas, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  763,  766. — Alonso  de  Palencia, 
Cordnica,  MS.,  part.  1,  cap.  20,  21.— It 
does  not  appear,  however,  whom  Beltran 


de  la  Cueva  indicated  as  the  lady  of  his 
love  on  this  occasion.  (See  Castillo,  Cr6n- 
ica,  cap.  23,  24.)  Two  anecdotes  may  be 
mentioned  as  characteristic  of  the  gal- 
lantry of  the  times.  The  archbishop  of 
Seville  concluded  a superb  fete , given  in 
honor  of  the  royal  nuptials,  by  introduc- 
ing on  the  table  -two  vaces  filled  with 
rings  garnished  with  precious  stones,  to 
be  distributed  among  his  female  guests. 
At  a ball  given  on  another  occasion,  the 
young  queen  having  condescended  to 
dance  with  the  French  ambassador,  the 
latter  made  a solemn  vow,  in  commemo- 
ration of  so  distinguished  an  honor, 
never  to  dance  with  any  other  woman. 

7 Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
cap.  42,  47. — Castillo,  Cronica,  cap.  23. 

8 Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
cap.  35.— Sempere,  Hist,  del  Luxo,  tom. 

1.  p.  183. — Idem,  Hist,  des  Cortes,  ch.  19. 
— Marina,  Teoria,  part.  1,  cap.  20, — part. 

2,  pp.  390,  391. — Zuniga,  Anales  de  Se- 
villa, pp.  346,  349.— The  papal  bulls  of 
crusade  issued  on  these  occasions,  says 
Palencia,  contained  among  other  indul- 
gences an  exemption  from  the  pains  and 
penalties  of  purgatory,  assuring  to  the 
soul  of  the  purchaser,  after  death,  an 
immediate  translation  into  a state  of 
glory.  Some  of  the  more  orthodox  casu- 
ists doubted  the  validity  of  such  a bull. 
But  it  was  decided  after  due  examina- 
tion, that,  as  the  holy  father  possessed 
plenary  power  of  absolution  of  all  offen- 
ces committed  upon  earth,  and  as  purga- 
tory is  situated  upon  earth,  it  properly 
fell  within  his  jurisdiction,  (cap.  32.) 
Bulls  of  crusade  were  sold  at  the  rate  of 
200  maravedies  each ; and  it  is  computed 
by  the  same  historian,  that  no  less  than 
4,000,000  maravedies  were  amassed  by 
this  traffic  in  Castile,  in  the  space  of  four 
years ! 

9 Saez,  Monedas  de  Enrique  IV.,  (Mad- 
rid, 1805,)  pp.  2-5. — Alonso  de  Palencia, 
Coronica,  MS.,  cap.  36,  39. — Castillo,  Cr6n- 
ica,  cap.  19. 

10  Pulgar,  Clar os  Varones,  tit.  6. — Cas- 
tillo, Crdnica,  cap.  15.— Mendoza,  Monar- 
qula  de  Espana,  tom.  i.  p.  328.— The  an- 
cient marquisate  of  Villena,  having  been 
incorporated  into  the  crown  of  Castile, 
devolved  to  Prince  Henry  of  Aragon,  on 
his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  John 
II.  It  was  subsequently  confiscated  by 
that  monarch,  in  consequence  of  the  re- 
peated rebellions  of  Prince  Henry;  and 
the  title,  together  with  a large  proportion 
of  the  domains  originally  attached  to  it, 


PART  I. — CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


433 


CH.  III.] 

was  conferred  on  Don  Juan  Pacheco,  by 
whom  it  was  transmitted  to  his  son,  after- 
wards raised  to  the  rank  of  duke  of  Es- 
calona,  in  the  reign  of  Isabella.  Salazar 
de  Mendoza,  Dignidades  de  Castilla  y 
Leon,  (Madrid,  1794,)  lib.  3,  cap.  12, 17. 

11  Pulgar,  Claros  Varones,  tit.  20.— Ber- 
naldez,  Reyes  Catolieos,  MS.,  cap.  10,  11. 

1 2 At  least  these  are  the  important  con- 
sequences imputed  to  this  interview  by 
the  French  writers.  See  Gaillard,  Riva- 
lite,  tom.  iii.  pp.  241-243.— Comines,  Me- 
moires,  liv.  3,  chap.  8. — Also  Castillo, 
Cronica,  cap.  48,  49.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib. 
17,  cap.  50. 

13  Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  ii. 
p.  122.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  17,  cap.  56.— 
Castillo,  Cronica,  cap.  51,  52,  58. — The 
queen  of  Aragon,  who  was  as  skilful  a 
diplomatist  as  her  husband,  John  I.,  as- 
sailed the  vanity  of  Villena,  quite  as  much 
as  his  interest.  On  one  of  his  missions  to 
her  court,  she  invited  him  to  dine  with 
her  tete-a-tete  at  her  own  table,  while 
during  the  repast  they  were  served  by 
the  ladies  of  the  palace.  Ibid.,  cap.  40. 

14  See  the  memorial  presented  to  the 
king,  cited  at  length  in  Marina,  Teoria, 
tom.  iii.  Apend.  no.  7.— Castillo,  Cronica, 
cap.  58,  64.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  17,  cap. 
56.— Lebrija,  Hispanarum  Rerum  Ferdi- 
nando  Regc  et  Elisabe  Regina  Gestarum 
Decades,  (apud  Granatam,  1545,)  lib.  1, 
cap.  1,  2.— Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica, 
MS  , part.  1,  cap.  6.— Bernaldez,  Reyes 
Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  9. 

16  Castillo,  Cronica,  cap.  56. 

1G  See  copies  from  the  original  instru- 
ments, which  are  still  preserved  in  the 
archives  of  the  house  of  Villena,  in  Mari- 
na, Teoria,  tom.  iii.  part.  2,  Ap.  6,  8.— Cas- 
tillo, Cronica,  cap.  66,  67.— Alonso  de  Pa- 
lencia, Coronica,  MS.,  part.  1,  cap.  57. 

17  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  1,  cap.  62. — Castillo,  Cronica,  cap. 
68,  69,  74. 

18  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  1,  cap.  63,  70.— Castillo,  Cr6nica, 
cap.  75,  76. 

19  The  celebrated  marquis  of  Santilla- 
na  died  in  1458,  at  the  age  of  sixty.  (San- 
chez, Poeslas  Castellanas,  tom.  i.  p.  23.) 
The  title  descended  to  his  eldest  son, 
Diego  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  who  is  repre- 
sented by  his  contemporaries  to  have 
been  worthy  of  his  sire.  Like  him  he  was 
imbued  with  a love  of  letters ; he  was 
conspicuous  for  his  magnanimity  and 
chivalrous  honor,  his  moderation,  con- 


stancy, and  uniform  loyalty  to  his  sove- 
reign, virtues  of  rare  worth  in  those  ra- 
pacious and  turbulent  times.  (Pulgar, 
Claros  Varones,  tit.  9.)  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  created  him  duke  del  Infantado. 
This  domain  derives  its  name  from  its 
having  been  once  the  patrimony  of  the 
infantes  of  Castile.  See  Salazar  de  Men- 
doza, Monarquia,  tom.  i.  p.  219, —and 
Dignidades  de  Castilla,  lib.  3,  cap.  17.— 
Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc. 
1,  dial.  8. 

20  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  1,  cap.  64.— Castillo,  Cronica  cap.  78. 

21  Castillo,  Cronica,  cap.  80,  82. 

22  Rades  y Andrada,  Chronica  de  Las 
Tres  Ordenes  y Cavallerias,  (Toledo,  1572,) 
fol.  76. — Castillo, Crdnica,  cap.  85. — Alonso 
de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  part.  1,  cap. 
73. 

23  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
154. — Florez,  Reynas  Catholieas,  tom.  ii. 
p.  789. — Castillo,  Cronica,  cap.  37. 

24  Aleson,  Anales  de  Navarra,  tom.  iv. 
pp.  561,  562.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  16,  cap. 
46,  lib.  17,  cap.  3. — Castillo,  Cronica,  cap. 
31,  57. — Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica, 
MS.,  cap.  55. 

25  Decad.  de  Palencia,  apud  Mem.  dela 
Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  p.  65,  nota. 

26  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
cap.  73. — Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom. 
ii.  p.  450. — Garibay,  Compendio,  tom.  ii. 
p.  532.  This  lady,  Dona  Beatriz  Fernan- 
dez de  Bobadilla,  the  most  intimate  per- 
sonal friend  of  Isabella,  will  appear  often 
in  the  course  of  our  narrative.  Gonzalo 
de  Oviedo,  who  knew  her  well,  describes 
her  as  “ illustrating  her  generous  lineage 
by  her  conduct,  which  was  wise,  virtuous, 
and  valiant.”  (Quincuagenas,  MS.,  dial, 
de  Cabrera.)  The  last  epithet,  rather 
singular  for  a female  character,  was  not 
unmerited. 

27  Palencia  imputes  his  death  to  an  at- 
tack of  the  quinsy.  Coronica,  MS. , cap. 
73. 

28  Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Ordenes, 
fol.  77.— Caro  de  Torres,  Historia  de  las 
Ordenes  Militares  de  Santiago,  Calatrava, 
y Alcantara,  (Madrid,  1629,)  lib.  2,  cap.  59. 
— Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap.  85. — Alonso  de 
PalenGia,  Coronica,  MS.,  cap.  73.— Gail- 
lard remarks  on  this  event,  “Chacun 
crut  sur  cette  mort  ce  qu'il  voulut.”  And 
again  in  a few  pages  after,  speaking  of 
Isabella,  he  says,  “ On  remarqua  que 
tous  ceux  qui  pouvoient  faire  obstacle  a 
la  satisfaction  ou  5,  la  fortune  d ’Isabelle, 


434 


PART  I. — CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IY. 


[CH.  III. 


mouroient  toujour s h propos  pour  elle.” 
(RivalitS,  tom.  iii.  pp.  280,  286.)  This  in- 
genious writer  is  fond  of  seasoning  his 
style  with  those  piquant  sarcasms,  in 
which  .oftentimes  more  is  meant  than 
meets  the  ear,  and  which  Voltaire  ren- 
dered fashionable  in  history.  I doubt, 
however,  if,  amid  all  the  heats  of  contro- 
versy and  faction,  there  is  a single  Span- 
ish writer  of  that  age,  or  indeed  of  any 
subsequent  one,  who  has  ventured  to  im- 
pute to  the  contrivance  of  Isabella  any 
one  of  the  fortunate  coincidences,  to 
which  the  author  alludes. 

29  Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades, 
lib.  1,  cap.  2.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  18,  cap. 
10.— Castillo,  Cronica,  cap.  93,  97. — Alon- 
so de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  part.  1, 
cap.  80. 

30  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
cap.  82. 

31  Zuniga,  Anales  de  Sevilla,  pp.  351, 
352. — Carta  del  Levantamiento  de  Toledo, 
apud  Castillo,  Cronica,  p.  109. — The  his- 
torian of  Seville  has  quoted  an  animated 
apostrophe  addressed  to  the  citizens  by 
one  of  their  number  in  this  season  of  dis- 
cord: 

“ Mezquina  Sevilla  en  la  sangre  banada 
de  tus  iijos,  i tus  cavalleros, 
que  fado  enemigo  te  tienc  minguada,”  etc. 

The  poem  concludes  with  a summons  to 
throw  off  the  yoke  of  their  oppressors: 

“ Despierta  Sevilla  e sacude  el  imperio, 
que  faze  a tus  nobles*tanto  vituperio.” 

See  Anales  p.  359. 

32  “Quod  in  pace  fors,  seunaiura,  tunc 
fatumetira  dei  vocabatur;  ” says  Taci- 
tus, (Historise,  lib.  4,  cap.  26,)  adverting 
to  a similar  state  of  excitement. 

33  Saez  quotes  a MS.  letter  of  a con- 
temporary, exhibiting  a frightful  picture 
of  these  disorders.  (Monedas  de  Enri- 
que IV.,  p.  1,  not. — Castillo,  Cronica,  cap. 
83,  87,  et  passim. — Marina,  Hist,  de  Es- 
pana, tom.  ii.  p.  451. — Marina,  Teoria, 
tom.  ii.  p.  487.  --Alonso  de  Palencia, .Coro- 
nica,  MS.,  part.  1,  cap.  69.)  The  active 
force  kept  on  duty  by  the  Hermandad 
amounted  to  3,000  horse.  Ibid.,  cap.  89, 
90. 

34  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
cap.  87,  92. — Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap.  94.— 
Garibay,  Compendio,  lib.  17,  cap.*20. 

35  Marina,  Teoria,  part.  2,  cap.  38. 

36  Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decad., 
lib.  1,  cap.  8. — Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cord, 
nica,  MS.,  part.  1,  cap.  92.— Florez,  Rey- 
nas Catholieas,  tom.  ii.  p.  790. 


37  Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decad., 
lib.  1,  cap.  3.— Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne, 
tom.  vii.  p.  218. — Alonso  de  Palencia,  Co- 
ronica, part.  1,  cap.  92, — part.  2,  cap.  5. 

33  See  a copy  of  the  original  compact 
cited  at  length  by  Marina,  Teoria,  Apend. 
no.  11.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  part.  1, 
cap.  2. 

39  So  called  from  four  bulls,  sculptured 
in  stone,  discovered  there,  with  Latin  in- 
scriptions thereon,  indicating  it  to  have 
been  the  site  of  one  of  Julius  Caesar’s  vic- 
tories during  the  civil  war.  (Estrada, 
Poblacion  General  de  Espana,  [Madrid, 
1748,]  tom.  i.  p.  306.)— Galindez  de  Carba- 
jal, & contemporary,  fixes  the  date  of  this 
convention  in  August.  Anales  del  Rey 
Fernando  el  Catdlico,  MS.,  aho  1468. 

40  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  4. — Castillo,  Cronica,  cap. 
118. — Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii. 
pp.  461,  462.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos, 
part.  1,  cap.  2.— Castillo  affirms  that  Hen- 
ry, incensed  by  his  sister’s  refusal  of  the 
king  of  Portugal,  dissolved  the  Cortes  at 
Ocana,  before  it  had  taken  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  her.  (Crdnica,  cap.  127.) 
This  assertion,  however,  is  counterbal- 
anced by  the  opposite  one  of  Pulgar,  a 
contemporary  writer,  like  himself.  (Rey- 
es Catolicos,  cap.  5.)  And  as  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  in  a letter  addressed,  after 
their  marriage,  to  Henry  IV.,  transcribed 
also  by  Castillo,  allude  incidentally  to 
such  a recognition  as  to  a well-known 
fact,  the  balance  of  testimony  must  be 
admitted  to  be  in  favor  of  it.  See  Castillo, 
Crdnica,  cap.  114. 

41  Isabella,  who  in  a letter  to  Henry 
IV.,  dated  Oct.  12th,  1469,  adverts  to  these 
proposals  of  the  English  prince,  as  being 
under  consideration  at  the  time  of  the 
convention  of  Toros  de  Guisando,  does 
not  specify  which  of  the  brothers  of  Ed- 
ward IV.  was  intended.  (Castillo,  Cr6- 
nica,  cap.  136.)  Mr.  Turner,  in  his  History 
of  England  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
(London,  1825,)  quotes  part  of  the  address 
delivered  by  the  Spanish  envoy  to  Rich- 
ard III.,  in  1483,  in  which  the  orator 
speaks  of  “the  unkindness,  which  his 
queen  Isabella  had  conceived  for  Edward 
IV. , for  his  refusal  of  her , and  his  taking 
instead  to  wife  a widow  of  England.*’ 
(Vol.  iii.  p.  274.)  The  old  chronicler  Hall, 
on  the  other  hand,  mentions,  that  it  was 
currently  reported,  although  he  does  not 
appear  to  credit  it,  that  the  earl  of  War- 
wick had  been  dispatched  into  Spain  in 


CH.  III.] 


PART  I. — CASTILE  UNDER  HENRY  IV. 


435 


order  to  request  the  hand  of  the  princes 
Isabella  for  his  master  Edward  IV.,  in 
14C3.  (See  his  Chronicle  of  England, 
[London,  1809,]  pp.  263,  264.)— I find  noth- 
ing in  the  Spanish  accounts  of  that  pe- 
riod, which  throws  any  light  on  these  ob- 
vious contradictions. 

42  The  territories  of  France  and  Castile 
touched,  indeed,  on  one  point  (Guipus- 
coa),  but  were  separated  along  the  whole 
remaining  line  of  frontier  by  the  king- 
doms of  Aragon  and  Favarre. 

43  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  8. — Al- 
onso de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS.,  part.  2, 
cap.  10. 

44  Isabella,  in  order  to  acquaint  herself 
more  intimately  with  the  personal  quali- 
ties of  her  respective  suitors,  had  pri- 
vately dispatched  her  confidential  chap- 
lam,  Alonso  de  Coca,  to  the  courts  of 
France  and  of  Aragon,  and  his  report  on 
his  return  was  altogether  favorable  to 
F rdinand.  The  duke  of  Guienne  he  rep- 
re  3nted  as  “ a feeble,  effeminate  prince, 
with  limbs  so  emaciated  as  to  be  almost 
deformed,  and  with  eyes  so  weak  and 
watery  as  to  incapacitate  him  for  the 
ordinary  exercises  of  chivalry.  While 
Ferdinand,  on  the  other  hand,  was  pos- 
sessed of  a comely,  symmetrical  figure,  a 
graceful  demeanor,  and  a spirit  that  was 
up  to  anything;  ” mui  dispuesto  para 
toda  cosa  que  hacer  quisiese.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  the  queen  of  Aragon 
condescended  to  practice  some  of  those 
agreeable  arts  on  the  worthy  chaplain, 
which  made  so  sensible  an  impression  on 
the  marquis  of  Villena. 

45  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  5. 

40  See  ante,  note  10. 

47  Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa, 
tom.  ii.  p.  391.— Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap. 
121,  127. — Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cor6nica, 
MS.,  part.  2,  cap.  7. — Lebrija,  Rerum  Ges- 
tarum  Decad.,  lib.  1,  cap.  7. 

48  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap. 
7.— Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  7. 

49  Pulgar,  Claros  Varones,  tit.  2. 

50  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
154.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  162.— 
Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  part. 
2,  cap.  7. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap.  9. 

61  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  157,  1G3. 

62  See  the  copy  of  the  original  marriage 
contract,  as  it  exists  in  the  archives  of 
Simancas,  extracted  in  tom.  vi.  of  Me- 


morias  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  Apend.  no.  1. 
—Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  18,  cap.  21.-  Ferre- 
ras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  vii.  p.  236. 

53  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  12.— Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap. 
128,  131,  136.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol. 
162. — Beatrice  de  Bobadilla  and  Mencia 
de  la  Torre,  the  two  ladies  most  in  her 
confidence,  had  escaped  to  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Coca. 

54  Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap.  136.— Alonso 
de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  part.  2,  cap. 
12.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  69. 

55  This  cavalier,  who  was  of  an  ancient 
and  honorable  family  in  Castile,  was  in- 
troduced to  the  princess’s  service  by  the 
archbishop  of  Toledo.  He  is  represented 
by  Gonzalo  de  Oviedo,  as  a man  of  much 
sagacity  and  knowledge  of  the  world, 
qualities  with  which  he  united  a stead}- 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  his  mistress. 
Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc. 
2,  dial.  1. 

66  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
cap.  14.— The  bishop  told  Palencia,  that 
“if  his  own  servants  deserted  him,  he 
would  oppose  the  entrance  of  Ferdinand 
into  the  kingdom.” 

67  Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  18,  cap.  26.— The 
enrique  was  a gold  coin,  so  denominated 
from  Henry  II. 

58  Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  18,  cap.  26.—  • 
Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  p.  273. 

59  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
p.  78,  Bust.  2. 

60  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  14.— Zurita,  Anales,  loc.  cit. 

61  This  letter,  dated  October  12th,  is 
cited  at  length  by  Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap. 
136. 

62  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  15. 

63  Gutierre  de  Cardenas  was  the  first 
who  pointed  him  out  to  the  princess,  ex- 
claiming at  the  same  time,  “ Ese  es,  ese 
es,”  “ This  is  he;  ” in  commemoration  of 
which  he  was  permitted  to  place  on  his 
escutcheon  the  letters  SS,  whose  pronun- 
ciation in  Spanish  resembles  that  of  the 
exclamation,  which  he  had  uttered.  Ibid. , 
part.  2,  cap.  15.-  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas, 
MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  1. 

64  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
182.  — Garibay,  Compendio,  lib.  18,  cap.  1. 
—“Tan  amigo  de  los  negocios,”  says 
Marina,  “ que  parecia  con  el  trabajo  des- 

i cansaba.”  Hist,  de  Espafia,  lib.  25.  cap. 

1 18. 


436 


PART  I. —DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV. 


[CH.  IV. 


65  “ En  liermosura,  puestas  delante  S. 
A.  todas  las  mugeres  que  yo  he  visto,  nin- 
guna  vi  tan  graciosa,  ni  tanto  de  ver 
como  su  persona,  ni  de  tal  manera  e sane- 
tidad  honestisima.”  Oviedo,  Quincua- 
genas,  MS. 

66  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS., 
cap.  201. — Abarca,  Rsyes  de  Aragon, 
tom.  ii.  p.  362.  — Garibay,  Compendio,  lib. 
18,  cap.  1. 

07  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  p. 
4G5. 

68  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1469.— 
Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  part. 
2,  cap.  16.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  18,  cap.  26. 
—See  a copy  of  the  official  record  of  the 
marriage,  Mem.  de  la  Acad.,  tom.  vi. 
Apend.  4.  See  also  the  Ilust.  2. 

69  The  intricacies  of  this  affair,  at  once 
the  scandal  and  the  stumbling-block  of 
the  Spanish  historians,  have  been  un- 
ravelled by  Senor  Clemencin,  with  his 
usual  perspicuity.  See  Mem.  de  la  Acad., 
tom.  vi.  pp.  105-116,  Ilust.  2. 

70  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  16. — A lively  narrative  of  the 
adventures  of  Prince  Ferdinand,  detailed 
in  this  chapter,  may  be  found  in  Cush- 
ing’s Reminiscences  of  Spain.  (Boston, 
1833,)  vol.  i.  pp.  225-255. 

71  Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap.  137.— Alonso 
de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  part.  2,  cap. 
16. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  IV. 

1 Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  21. — Gaillard,  Rivalitd,  tom. 
iii.  p.  284.— Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres 
Ordenes,  fol.  65.— Caro  de  Torres,  Orde- 
nes  Militares,  fol.  43. 

2 Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  23. — Castillo,  Crdnica,  p. 
298.— Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  24. — Henry,  well  knowing 
how  little  all  this  would  avail  without  the 
constitutional  sanction  of  the  Cortes, 
twice  issued  his  summons  in  1470  for  the 
convocation  of  the  deputies,  to  obtain  a 
recognition  of  the  title  of  Joanna.  But 
without  effect.  In  the  letters  of  convoca- 
tion issued  for  a third  assembly  of  the 
states,  in  1471,  this  purpose  was  prudent- 
ly omitted,  and  thus  the  claims  of  Joan- 
na failed  to  receive  the-countenance  of 
the  only  body  which  could  give  them  va- 
lidity. See  the  copies  of  the  original 
writs,  addressed  to  the  cities  of  Toledo 
and  Segovia,  cited  by  Marina,  Teorla, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  87-89. 


3 The  grand  master  of  St.  James,  and 
his  son,  the  marquis  of  Villena,  after- 
wards duke  of  Escalona.  The  rents  of 
the  former  nobleman,  whose  avarice  was 
as  insatiable,  as  his  influence  over  the 
feeble  mind  of  Henry  IV.  was  unlimited, 
exceeded  those  of  any  other  grandee  in 
the  kingdom.  See  Pulgar,  Claros  Varo- 
nes,  tit.  6. 

4 The  marquis  of  Santillana,  first  duke 
of  Infantado,  and  his  brothers,  the  counts 
of  Coruna,  and  of  Tendilla,  and  above  all 
Pedro  Goiizalez  de  Mendoza,  afterwards 
cardinal  of  Spain,  and  archbishop  of  To- 
ledo, who  was  indebted  for  the  highest 
dignities  in  the  church  less  to  his  birth 
than  his  abilities.  See  Claros  Varones, 
tit.  4, 9.— Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Dignidades, 
lib.  3,  cap.  17. 

6 Alvaro  de  Zuniga,  count  of  Palencia, 
and  created  by  Henry IV.  duke  of  Arevalo. 
— Pedro  Fernandez  de  Velasco,  count  of 
Haro,  was  raised  to  the  post  of  constable 
of  Castile  in  1473,  and  the  office  continued 
to  be  hereditary  in  the  family  from  that 
period.  Pulgar,  Claros  Varones,  tit.  3. — 
Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Dignidades,  lib.  3, 
cap.  21. 

6 The  Pimentels,  counts  of  Benavente, 
had  estates  which  gave  them  60,000  du- 
cats a year;  a very  large  income  for  that 
period,  and  far  exceeding  that  of  any 
other  grandee  of  similar  rank  in  the  king- 
dom. L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables, 
fol.  25. 

7 Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  70. 

8 Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  170.— Al- 
onso de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  cap.  45. 

9 This  nobleman,  Diego  Hurtado,  “muy 
gentil  caballero  y gran  senor,”  as  Oviedo 
calls  him,  was  at  this  time  only  marquis 
of  Santillaha,  and  was  not  raised  to  the 
title  of  duke  of  Infantado  till  the  reign  of 
Isabella,  (Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  8.)  To  avoid  confusion, 
however,  I have  given  him  the  title  by 
which  he  is  usually  recognized  by  Castil- 
ian writers. 

10  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  MS., 
cap.  3.— Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Crdnica  de 
el  Gran  Cardenal  de  Espana,  Don  Pedro 
Gonzalez  de  Mendoza,  (Toledo,  1625,)  pp. 
138,  150.— Zuniga,  Anales  de  Sevilla,  p. 
362. 

11  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS., 
cap.  4,  5,  7. — Zufiiga,  Anales  de  Sevilla, 
pp.  363,  364.— Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cord- 
nica, MS.,  part.  2,  cap.  35,  38,  39,  42.— 


PART  I. — DEATH  OF  HENRY  IY. 


437 


CH.  IY.] 

Saez  Monedas  de  Enrique  IV. , pp.  1-5.— 
Pulgar,  in  an  epistle  addressed,  in  the 
autumn  of  1473,  to  the  bishop  of  Coria, 
adverts  to  several  circumstances  which 
set  in  a strong  light  the  anarchial  state 
of  the  kingdom  and  the  total  deficiency 
of  police.  The  celebrated  satirical  ec- 
logue, also,  entitled  “Mingo  Revulgo,” 
exposes,  with  coarse  but  cutting  sar- 
casm, the  license  of  the  court,  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  clergy,  and  the  prevalent 
depravity  of  the  people.  In  one  of  its 
stanzas  it  boldly  ventures  to  promise 
another  and  a better  sovereign  to  the 
country.  This  performance,  even  more 
interesting  to  the  antiquarian  than  to  the 
historian,  has  been  attributed  by  some  to 
Pulgar,  (see  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana, 
tom.  ii.  p.  475,)  and  by  others  to  Rodrigo 
Cota,  (see  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Ye- 
tus,  tom.  ii.  p.  264,)  but  without  satisfac- 
tory evidence  in  favor  of  either.  Bouter- 
wek  is  much  mistaken  in  asserting  it  to 
have  been  aimed  at  the  government  of 
John  II.  The  gloss  of  Pulgar,  whose  au- 
thority as  a contemporary  must  be  con- 
sidered decisive,  plainly  proves  it  to  have 
been  directed  against  Henry  IV . 

12  See  Chap.  II. 

13  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
cap.  56. — Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom. 
ii.  p.  481.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol. 
191.— Barante,  Histoire  des  Dues  de  Bour- 
gogne, (Paris,  1825,)  tom.  ix.  pp.  101-106. 

14  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
cap.  70.— Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom. 
ii.  p.  482. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memora- 
bles,  fob  148.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv. 
fob  195.— Anquetil,  Histoire  de  France, 
(Paris,  1805,)  tom.  v.  pp.  60,  61. 

18  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fob  196. — 
Barante,  Hist,  des  Dues  de  Bourgogne, 
tom.  x.  pp.  105,  106. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas 
Memorables,  fob  149.— Alonso  de  Palen- 
cia, Cordnica,  MS.,  cap.  70,  71,  72. 

18  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fob  200.— 
Gaillard,  Rivalitd,  tom.  iii.  p.  266.— See 
the  articles  of  the  treaty  cited  by  Duclos, 
Hist,  de  Louis  XI.,  tom.  ii.  pp.  99,  101. — 
Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS.,  cap. 
73. 

17  Louis  XI.  is  supposed  with  much 
probability  to  have  assassinated  this 
brother.  M.  de  Barante  sums  up  his  ex- 
amination of  the  evidence  with  this  re- 
mark: “ Le  roi  Louis  XI.  ne  fit  peut-etre 
pas  mourir  son  frere,  mais  personne  ne 
pensa  qu’il  en  fut  incapable.”  Hist,  des 
Dues  de  Bourgogne,  tom.  ix.  p.  433. 


18  The  two  princes  alluded  to  were  the 
duke  of  Segorbe,  a cousin  of  Ferdinand, 
and  the  king  of  Portugal.  The  former, 
on  his  entrance  into  Castile,  assumed 
such  sovereign  state,  (giving  his  hand, 
for  instance,  to  the  grandees  to  kiss,)  as 
disgusted  these  haughty  nobles,  and  was 
eventually  the  occasion  of  breaking  off 
his  match.  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordni- 
ca, MS.,  part.  2,  cap.  62.— Faria  y Sousa, 
Europa  Portuguesa,  tom.  ii.  p.  392. 

19  Oviedo  assigns  another  reason  for 
this  change;  the  disgust  occasioned  by 
Henry  IY.  ’s  transferring  the  custody  of 
his  daughter  from  the  family  of  Mendoza 
to  the  Pachecos.  Quincuagenas,  MS., 
bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  8. 

20  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Crdn.  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  p.  133.— Alonso  de  Palencia, 
Cordnica,  MS.,  part.  2,  cap.  46,  92.— Cas- 
tillo, Crdnica,  cap.  163. — The  influence  of 
these  new  allies,  especially  of  the  cardi- 
nal, over  Isabella’s  councils,  was  an  ad- 
ditional ground  of  umbrage  to  the  arch- 
bishop of  Toledo,  who,  in  a communica- 
tion with  the  king  of  Aragon,  declared 
himself,  though  friendly  to  their  cause, 
to  be  released  from  all  further  obliga- 
tions to  serve  it.  See  Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  iv.  lib.  46,  cap.  19. 

21  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  anos  73,  74.— 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  p.  27. — Castillo, 
Crdnica,  cap.  164. — Alonso  de  Palencia, 
Cordnica,  MS.,  part.  2,  cap.  75.— Oviedo, 
Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial. 
23. 

22  Mendoza,  Crdn.  del  Gran  Cardenal, 
pp.  141,  142.— Castillo,  Crdnica,  cap.  164. 
— Oviedo  has  given  a full  account  of  this 
cavalier,  who  was  allied  to  an  ancient 
Catalan  family,  but  who  raised  himself 
to  such  preeminence  by  his  own  deserts, 
says  that  writer,  that  he  may  well  be 
considered  the  founder  of  his  house, 
loc.  cit. 

23  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  70.— This 
was  the  eldest  child  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  born  Oct.  1st,  1470;  afterwards 
queen  of  Portugal. 

24  Gaillard,  Rivalitd,  tom.  iii.  pp.  267- 
276. — Duclos,  Hist,  de  Louis  XI.,  tom.  ii. 
pp.  113,  115. — Chronique  Scandaleuse,  ed. 
Petitot,  tom.  xiii.  pp.  443,  444. 

25  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Cordnica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  83.— Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espag- 
ne,  tom.  vii.  p.  400.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom. 
iv.  lib.  19,  cap.  12. 

26  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
150. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  lib.  19,  cap. 


438 


PART  I. — WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


13.— Chronique  Scandaleuse,  ed.  Petitot, 
tom.  xiii.  p.  456.— Alonso  de  Palencia, 
Cordnica,  MS.,  part.  2,  cap.  91. 

27  See  copies  of  the  original  letters,  as 
given  by  M.  Barante,  in  his  History  of 
the  Dukes  of  Burgundy,  in  which  the  au- 
thor has  so  happily  seized  the  tone  and 
picturesque  coloring  of  the  ancient  chron- 
icle; tom.  x.  pp.  289,  298. 

28  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS., 
cap.  10. — Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  74. 
— Castillo,  Cronica,  cap.  148. 

29  This  topic  is  involved  in  no  little  ob- 
scurity, and  has  been  reported  with  much 
discrepancy  as  well  as  inaccuracy  by  the 
modern  Spanish  historians.  Among  the 
ancient,  Castillo,  the  historiographer  of 
Henry  IV.,  mentions  certain  “testament- 
ary executors,”  without,  however,  notic- 
ing in  any  more  direct  way  the  existence 
of  a will.  (Cron.  c.  168.)  The  Curate  of 
Los  Palacios  refers  to  a clause  reported, 
he  says,  to  have  existed  in  the  testament 
of  Henry  IV.,  in  which  he  declares  Joan- 
na his  daughter  and  heir;  (Reyes  Catoli- 
cos,  MS.,  cap.  10.)  Alonso  de  Palencia 
states  positively  that  there  was  no  such 
instrument,  and  that  Henry,  on  being 
asked  who  was  to  succeed  him,  referred 
to  his  secretary  Juan  Gonzalez  for  a 
knowledge  of  his  intention.  (Cron.  c.  92.) 
L.  Marineo  also  states  that  the  king, 
“with  his  usual  improvidence,”  left  no 
will.  (Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  155.)  Pul- 
gar,  another  contemporary,  expressly 
declares  that  he  executed  no  will,  and 
quotes  the  words  dictated  by  him  to  his 
secretary,  in  which  he  simply  designates 
two  of  the  grandees  as  “ executors  of  his 
soul,”  ( cilbaceas  de  su  anima,)  and  four 
others  in  conjunction  with  them  as  the 
guardians  of  his  daughter  Joanna. 
(Reyes  Cat.  p.  31.)  It  seems  not  improba- 
ble that  the  existence  of  this  document 
has  been  confounded  with  that  of  a testa- 
ment, and  that  with  reference  to  it,  the 
phrase  above  quoted  of  Castillo,  as  well 
as  the  passage  of  Bernaldez,  is  to  be  in- 
terpreted. Carbajal’s  wild  story  of  the 
existence  of  a will,  of  its  secretion  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  and  its  final  sup- 
pression by  Ferdinand,  is  too  naked  of 
testimony  to  deserve  the  least  weight 
with  the  historian.  (See  his  Anales,  MS., 
ano  74.)  It  should  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  most  of  the  above-mentioned 
writers  compiled  their  works  after  the 
accession  of  Isabella,  and  that  none,  save 
Castillo,  were  the  partisans  of  her  rival. 


[CH.  V. 

It  should  also  be  added  that  in  the  letters 
addressed  by  the  princess  Joanna  to  the 
different  cities  of  the  kingdom,  on  her  as- 
suming the  title  of  queen  of  Castile, 
(bearing  date  May,  1475,)  it  is  expressly 
stated  that  Henry  IV.,  on  his  deathbed, 
solemnly  affirmed  her  to  be  his  only 
daughter  and  lawful  heir.  These  letters 
were  drafted  by  John  de  Oviedo,  (Juan 
Gonzalez,)  the  confidential  secretary  of 
Henry  IV.  See  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv. 
fol.  235-239. 

30  As  was  the  case  with  the  testaments 
of  Alfonso  of  Leon  and  Alfonso  the  Wise, 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  with  that 
of  Peter  the  Cruel,  in  the  fourteenth. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  V. 

1 The  popular  belief  of  Joanna’s  ille- 
gitimacy was  founded  on  the  following 
circumstances.  1.  King  Henry’s  first 
marriage  with  Blanche  of  Navarre  was 
dissolved,  after  it  had  subsisted  twelve 
years,  on  the  publicly  alleged  ground  of 
‘ ‘ impotence  in  the  parties.  ’ ’ 2.  The  prin- 
cess Joanna,  the  only  child  of  his  second 
queen,  Joanna  of  Portugal,  was  not  born 
until  the  eighth  year  of  her  marriage,  and 
long  after  she  had  become  notorious  for 
her  gallantries.  3.  Although  Henry  kept 
several  mistresses,  whom  he  maintained 
in  so  ostentatious  a manner  as  to  excite 
general  scandal,  he  was  never  known  to 
have  had  issue  by  any  one  of  them.— To 
counterbalance  the  presumption  afforded 
by  these  facts,  it  should  be  stated,  that 
Henry  appears,  to  the  day  of  his  death, 
to  have  cherished  the  princess  Joanna  as 
his  own  offspring,  and  that  Beltran  de  la 
Cueva,  duke  of  Albuquerque,  her  reputed 
father,  instead  of  supporting  her  claims 
to  the  crown  on  the  demise  of  Henry,  as 
would  have  been  natural  had  he  been  en- 
titled to  the  honors  of  paternity,  attached 
himself  to  the  adverse  faction  of  Isabella. 
Queen  Joanna  survived  her  husband 
about  six  months  only.  Father  Florez 
(Reynas  Catholicas,  tom.  ii.  pp.  760-786,) 
has  made  a flimsy  attempt  to  whitewash 
her  character  ; but,  to  say  nothing  of  al- 
most every  contemporary  historian,  as 
well  as  of  the  official  documents  of  that 
day  (see  Marina,  Teoria,  tom.  iii.  part.  2, 
num.  L,)  the  stain  has  been  too  deeply 
fixed  by  the  repeated  testimony  of  Cas- 
tillo, the  loyal  adherent  of  her  own  party, 
to  be  thus  easily  effaced.  It  is  said,  how- 
ever, that  the  queen  died  in  the  odor  of 
sanctity ; and  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
caused  her  to  be  deposited  in  a rich  mau- 


PART  I. — WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


439 


CH.  V.] 

soleum,  erected  by  the  ambassador  to  the 
court  of  the  Great  Tamerlane  for  himself, 
but  from  which  his  remains  were  some- 
what unceremoniously  ejected,  in  order 
to  make  room  for  those  of  his  royal  mis- 
tress. 

2 See  this  subject  discussed  in  extenso, 
by  Marina,  Teoria,  part.  2,  cap.  1-10.— See, 
also,  Introd.  Sect.  1,  of  this  History. 

3 See  Part  I.  Chap.  3. 

4 See  Part  I.  Chap.  4,  Note  2. 

6  Fortunately,  this  strong  place,  in 
which  the  royal  treasure  was  deposited, 
was  in  the  keeping  of  Andres  de  Cabrera, 
the  husband  of  Isabella’s  friend,  Beatriz 
de  Bobadilla.  His  cooperation  at  this 
juncture  was  so  important,  that  Oviedo 
docs  not  hesitate  to  declare,  “ It  lay  with 
him  to  make  Isabella  or  her  rival  queen, 
as  he  listed.”  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  23. 

6 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap. 
10.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  75.— Alon- 
so de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS.,  part.  2, 
cap.  93. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables, 
fol.  155. — Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat. 
1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  3. 

7 Marina,  whose  peculiar  researches 
and  opportunities  make  him  the  best,  is 
my  only  authority  for  this  convention  of 
the  Cortes.  (Teoria,  tom.  ii.  pp.  63,  69.) 
The  extracts  he  makes  from  the  writ  of 
summons,  however,  seem  to  imply,  that 
the  object  was  not  the  recognition  of  Fer- 
dinand and  Isabella,  but  of  their  daugli 
ter,  as  successor  to  the  crown.  Among 
the  nobles,  who  openly  testified  their  ad- 
hesion to  Isabella,  were  no  less  than  four 
of  the  six  individuals,  to  whom  the  late 
king  had  intrusted  the  guardianship  of  his 
daughter  Joanna  ; viz.,  the  grand  cardi- 
nal of  Spain,  the  constable  of  Castile,  the 
duke  of  Infantado,  and  the  count  of  Ben- 
avente. 

8 A precedent  for  female  inheritance, 
in  the  latter  kingdom,  w~as  subsequently 
furnished  by  the  undisputed  succession 
and  long  reign  of  Joanna,  daughter  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  mother  of 
Charles  Y.  The  introduction  of  the  Salic 
law,  under  the  Bourbon  dynasty,  opposed 
a new  barrier,  indeed  ; but  this  has  since 
been  swept  away  by  the  decree  of  the  late 
monarch,  Ferdinand  VII.,  and  the  para- 
mount authority  of  the  Cortes ; and  we 
may  hope,  that  the  successful  assertion 
of  her  lawful  rights  by  Isabella  H.  will 
put  this  much  vexed  question  at  rest  for 
ever. 


9 See  Part  I.  Chap.  3.  — Ferdinand’s 
powers  are  not  so  narrowly  limited,  at 
least  not  so  carefully  defined,  in  this  set- 
tlement, as  in  the  marriage  articles.  In- 
deed, the  instrument  is  much  more  con- 
cise and  general  in  its  whole  import. 

10  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron,  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  lib.  1,  cap.  40. — L.  Marineo,  Co- 
sas Memorables,  fol.  155, 156.—  Zurita,  An- 
ales, tom.  iv.  fol.  222-224.— Pulgar,  Reyes 
Cat61icos,  pp.  35,  36. — See  the  original  in- 
strument signed  by  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, cited  at  length  in  Dormer’s  Discur- 
sosVarios  de  Historia,  (Zaragoza,  1683.) 
pp.  295-313.— It  does  not  appear  that  the 
settlement  was  ever  confirmed  by,  or  in- 
deed presented  to,  the  Cortes.  Marina 
speaks  of  it,  however,  as  emanating  from 
that  body.  (Teoria,  tom.  ii.  pp.  63,  64.) 
From  Pulgar’s  statement,  as  well  as  from 
the  instrument  itself,  it  seems  to  have 
been  made  under  no  other  auspices  or 
sanction,  than  that  of  the  great  nobility 
and  cavaliers.  Marina’s  eagerness  to  find 
a precedent  for  the  interference  of  the 
popular  branch  in  all  the  great  concerns 
of  government,  has  usually  quickened, 
but  sometimes  clouded,  his  optics.  In 
the  present  instance  he  has  undoubtedly 
confounded  the  irregular  proceedings  of 
the  aristocracy  exclusively,  with  the  de- 
liberate acts  of  the  legislature. 

11  Alonso  de  Palencia,  Coronica,  MS., 
part.  2,  cap.  94.  — Garibay,  Compendio, 
lib.  18,  cap.  3. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61i- 
cos,  MS.,  cap.  10,  11. — Pulgar,  Letras, 
(Madrid,  1775,)  let.  3,  al  Arzobispo  de  To- 
ledo.— The  archbishop's  jealousy  of  car- 
dinal Mendoza  is  uniformly  reported  by 
the  Spanish  writers,  as  the  true  cause  of 
his  defection  from  the  queen. 

12  Ruy  de  Pina,  Chronica  d’el  Rey  Al- 
fonso V.,  cap.  173,  apud  Collecgao  de 
Livros  In6ditos  de  Historia  Portugueza, 
(Lisboa,  1790-93,)  tom.  i. 

1 3 The  ancient  rivalry  between  the  two 
nations  was  exasperated  into  the  most 
deadly  rancor,  by  the  fatal  defeat  at  Al- 
jubarrotta,  in  1235,  in  which  fell  the  flower 
of  the  Castilian  nobility.  King  John  1. 
wore  mourning,  it  is  said,  to  the  day  of 
his  death,  in  commemoration  of  this  dis- 
aster. (Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portugue- 
sa,  tom.  ii.  pp.  394-396.— La  CIMe,  Hist, 
de  Portugal,  tom.  iii.  pp.  357-359.)  Pul- 
gar, the  secretary  cf  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, addressed,  by  their  order,  a letter 
of  remonstrance  to  the  king  of  Portugal, 
in  which  he  endeavors,  by  numerous  ar- 


440 


PART  I.  — WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


guments  founded  on  expediency  and  jus- 
tice, to  dissuade  him  from  his  meditated 
enterprise.  Pulgar,  Letras,  No.  7. 

14  Ruy  de  Pina,  Chronica  d’el  Rey  Al- 
fonso V.,  cap.  174-178.— Bernaldez,  Reyes 
Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  16,  17,  18.— Bernaldez 
states,  that  Alfonso,  previously  to  his  in- 
vasion, caused  largesses  of  plate  and 
money  to  be  distributed  among  the  Cas- 
tilian nobles,  whom  he  imagined  to  be 
well  affected  towards  him.  Some  of 
them,  the  duke  of  Alva  in  particular,  re- 
ceived his  presents  and  used  them  in  the 
cause  of  Isabella. — Faria  y Sousa,  Europa 
Portuguesa,  tom.  ii.  pp.  396-398.  — Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  230-240.— La  CIMe, 
Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iii.  pp.  360-362. — 
Pulgar,  Crdnica,  p.  51.— L.  Marineo,  Co- 
sas  Memorables,  fol.  156. — Oviedo,  Quin- 
cuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  3. 

1 5 The  queen,  who  -was,  at  that  time,  in 
a state  of  pregnancy,  brought  on  a mis- 
carriage by  her  incessant  personal  ex- 
posure. Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  234. 

16  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  75.— Pul- 
gar, Reyes  Catolicos,  pp.  45-55.— Ferre- 
ras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  vii.  p.  411. — 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  23. 

17  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS., 
cap.  18.— Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portu- 
guesa, tom.  ii.  pp.  398-400.— Pulgar,  Cro- 
nica,  pp.  55-60.— Ruy  de  Pina,  Chron,  d1 
el  Rey  Alfonso  V.,  cap.  179. — La  CIMe, 
Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iii.  p.  366.— Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  240-243. 

is  “pUes  no  os  maravilleis  de  eso,” 
says  Oviedo,  in  relation  to  these  troubles, 
“ que  n6  solo  entre  hermanos  suele  haber 
esas  diferencias,  mas  entre  padre  6 hi  jo 
lo  vimos  ayer,  como  suelen  deem.”  Quin- 
cuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  3. 

1 9 The  royal  coffers  were  found  to  con- 
tain about  10,000  marks  of  silver.  (Pul- 
gar, Reyes  Catol.  p.  54.)  Isabella  present- 
ed Cabrera  with  a golden  goblet  from 
her  table,  engaging  that  a similar  pres- 
ent should  be  regularly  made  to  him  and 
his  successors  on  the  anniversary  of  his 
surrender  of  Segovia.  She  subsequently 
gave  a more  solid  testimony  of  her  grati- 
tude, by  raising  him  to  the  rank  of  mar- 
quis of  Moya,  with  the  grant  of  an  estate 
suitable  to  his  new  dignity. — Oviedo, 
Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1, 
dial.  23. 

20  The  indignation  of  Dr.  Salazar  de 
Mendoza  is  roused  by  this  misapplication 
of  the  church’s  money,  which  he  avers 
“no  necessity  whatever  could  justify.” 


[ch.  v. 

This  worthy  canon  flourished  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  (Cr6n.  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  p.  147. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61. 
pp.  60-62. — Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portu- 
guesa, tom.  ii.  p.  400.— Rades  y Andrada, 
Las  Tres  Ordenes,  part.  1,  fol.  67. — Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  243.  — Bernaldez, 
Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  18,  20.)  Zuni- 
ga gives  some  additional  particulars  re- 
specting the  grant  of  the  Cortes,  which  I 
do  not  find  verified  by  any  contemporary 
author.  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  372. 

21  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  anos  75,  76. — 
Ruy  de  Pina,  Chron.  d’  el  Rey  Alfonso  V., 
cap.  187,  189.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61i- 
cos,  MS.,  cap.  20, 22.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat6- 
licos,  pp.  63-78.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Me- 
morables, fol.  156. — Faria  y Sousa,  Euro- 
pa Portuguesa,  tom.  ii.  pp.  401,  404.— 
Several  of  the  contemporary  Castilian 
historians  compute  the  Portuguese  army 
at  double  the  amount  given  in  the  text. 

22  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  pp.  82-85. — 
Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  252,  253.— 
Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa,  tom. 
ii.  pp.  404,  405. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat6- 
licos,  MS.,  cap.  23. — Ruy  de  Pina.  Chron. 
d’el  Rey  Alfonso,  V.  cap.  190. 

23  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  76.— L. 
Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  158.— 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  pp.  85-89.— Faria 
y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa,  tom.  ii.  pp. 
404,  405.  — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos, 
MS.,  cap.  23.— La  CIMe,  Hist,  de  Portu- 
gal, tom.  iii.  pp.  378-383. — Zurita  Anales, 
tom.  iv.  fol.  252-255. 

24  Faria  y Sousa,  claims  the  honors  of 
the  victory  for  the  Portuguese,  because 
Prince  John  kept  the  field  till  morning. 
Even  M.  La  Clede,  with  all  his  deference 
to  the  Portuguese  historian,  cannot  swal- 
low this.  Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portu- 
guesa, tom.  ii.  pp.  405-410. — Oviedo,  Quin- 
cuagenas, MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  8. — 
Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cr6n.  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  lib.  1,  cap.  46. — Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catdlicos,  pp.  85-90. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas 
Memorables,  fol.  158. — Carbajal,  Anales, 
MS.,  ano  76.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos. 
MS.,  cap.  23.— Ruy  de  Pina,  Chr6n.  d’  el 
Rey  Alfonso  V.,  cap.  191. — Ferdinand,  in 
allusion  to  Prince  John,  wrote  to  his 
wife,  that  “if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
chicken,  the  old  cock  would  have  been 
taken.”  Garibay,  Compendio,  lib.  18, 
cap.  8. 

25  puigar,  Rey  os  Catdlicos,  p.  90.— The 
sovereigns,  in  compliance  with  a pre- 
vious vow,  caused  a superb  monastery, 


PART  I.— WAR  OF  THE  SUCCESSION. 


441 


CH.  V.] 

dedicated  to  St.  Francis,  to  be  erected  in 
Toledo,  with  the  title  of  San  Juan  de  los 
Reyes,  in  commemoration  of  their  vic- 
tory over  the  Portuguese.  This  edifice 
was  still  to  be  seen  in  Marina’s  time. 

26  Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Ordenes, 
tom.  ii.  fol.  79,  80.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Cato- 
licos,  cap.  48-50,  55,  60. — Zurita,  Anales, 
lib.  19,  cap.  46,  48,  54,  58.— Ferreras,  Hist. 
d’Espagne,  tom.  vii.  pp.  476-478,  517-519, 
546. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  10.  — Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS., 
bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  8, 

27  Gaillard,  RivalitS,  tom.  iii.  pp.  290- 
292.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  76. 

28  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS., 
cap.  27.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap. 
56,  57. — Gaillard,  Rivalit6,  tom.  iii.  pp. 
290-292.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  19,  cap.  56, 
lib.  20,  cap.  10. — Ruy  de  Pina,  Chrdn.  d’el 
Rey  Alfonso  V.,  cap.  194-202. — Faria  y 
Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa,  tom.  ii.  pp. 
412-415.— Comines,  Mdmoires,  liv.  5,  chap. 

29  According  to  Faria  y Sousa,  John 
was  walking  along  the  shores  of  the  Ta- 
gus, with  the  duke  of  Braganza,  and  the 
cardinal,  archbishop  of  Lisbon,  when  he 
received  the  unexpected  tidings  of  his 
father’s  return  to  Portugal.  On  his  in- 
quiring of  his  attendants,  how  he  should 
receive  him,  “ How  but  as  your  king  and 
father!”  was  the  reply;  at  which  John, 
knitting  his  brows  together,  skimmed  a 
stone,  which  he  held  in  his  hand,  with 
much  violence  across  the  water.  The 
cardinal,  observing  this,  whispered  to 
the  duke  of  Braganza,  ”1  will  take  good 
care  that  that  stone  does  not  rebound  on 
me.”  Soon  after,  he  left  Portugal  for 
Rome,  where  he  fixed  his  residence.  The 
duke  lost  his  life  on  the  scaffold  for  im- 
puted treason,  soon  after  John's  acces- 
sion.—Europa  Portuguesa,  tom.  ii.  p.  416. 

30  Comines,  M6moires,  liv.  5,  chap.  7. — 
Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa,  tom. 
ii.  p.  116. — Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  20,  cap.  25. 
—Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  MS.,  cap. 
27. 

81  This  was  the  first  meeting  between 
father  and  son  since  the  elevation  of  the 
latter  to  the  Castilian  throne.  King  John 
would  not  allow  Ferdidand  to  kiss  his 
hand ; he  chose  to  walk  on  his  left ; he  at- 
tended him  to  his  quarters,  and,  in  short, 
during  the  whole  twenty  days  of  their 
conference,  manifested  towards  his  son 
all  the  deference,  which,  as  a parent,  he 
was  entitled  to  receive  from  him.  This 


he  did  on  the  ground  that  Ferdinand,  as 
king  of  Castile,  represented  the  elder 
branch  of  Trastamara,  while  he  repre- 
sented only  the  younger.  It  will  not  be 
easy  to  meet  with  an  instance  of  more 
punctilious  etiquette,  even  in  Spanish 
history.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap. 75. 

32  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron,  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  p.  162. — Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  20, 
cap.  25.— Carbajal.  Anales,  MS.,  ano  79. 

33  Ruy  de  Pina,  Chron.  d’el  Rey  Alfon- 
so V.,  cap.  206.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Me- 
morables,  fol.  166,  167. — Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  cap.  85,  89,  90.— Faria  y Sousa, 
Europa  Portuguesa,  tom.  ii.  pp.  420,  421. 
—Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  vii.  p. 
538. — Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  70. — 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  28, 
36,  37. 

34  Born  the  preceding  year,  June  28th, 
1478.  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  annocodem. 

35  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
168.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  91.— 
Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa,  tom. 
ii.  pp.  420,  421. — Ruy  de  Pina,  Chron.  d’el 
Rey  Alfonso  V.,  cap.  206. 

30  Ruy  de  Pina,  Chron.  d’el  Rey  Alfonso 
V.,cap.  20.— Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portu- 
guesa, tom.  ii.  p.  421. — Pulgar,  Reyes,  Ca- 
t61icos,  cap.  92 — L.  Marineo  speaks  of 
the  Senora  muy  excelente,  as  an  inmate 
of  the  cloister  at  the  period  in  which  he 
was  writing,  1522.  (fol.  168.)  Notwith- 
standing her  “irrevocable  vows,”  how- 
ever, Joanna  several  times  quitted  the 
monastery,  and  maintained  a royal  state 
under  the  protection  of  the  Portuguese 
monarchs,  who  occasionally  threatened 
to  revive  her  dormant  claims  to  the  pre- 
judice of  the  Castilian  sovereigns.  She 
may  be  said,  consequently,  to  have  form- 
ed the  pivot,  on  which  turned,  during  her 
whole  life,  the  diplomatic  relations  be- 
tween the  courts  of  Castile  and  Portugal, 
and  to  have  been  a principal  cause  of 
those  frequent  intermarriages  between 
the  royal  families  of  the  two  countries, 
by  which  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  hoped 
to  detach  the  Portuguese  crown  from  her 
interests.  Joanna  affected  a royal  style 
and  magnificence,  and  subscribed  her- 
self “ I the  Queen,”  to  the  last.  She  died 
in  the  palace  at  Lisbon,  in  1530,  in  the 
60th  year  of  her  age,  having  survived 
most  of  her  ancient  friends,  suitors,  and 
competitors.  — Joanna’s  history,  subse- 
quent to  her  taking  the  veil,  has  been  col- 
lected, with  his  usual  precision,  by  Sefior 
Clemencin,  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist., 
tom.  vi.,  Ilust.  19. 


442 


PART  I. — ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


[CH.  VI. 


37  Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa, 
tom.  ii.  p.  423. — Ruy  de  Pina,  Chr6n.  d’el 
Rey  Alfonso  V.,  cap.  212. 

38  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  70.— Ber- 
naldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,^  MS.,  cap.  42.— 
Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  (ed.  Valencia,) 
tom.  viii.  p.  204,  not. — Abarca,  Reyes  de 
Aragon,  tom.  ii.  fol.  295. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  VI. 

1 Among  other  examples,  Pulgar  men- 
tions that  of  the  alcayde  of  Castro-Nuno, 
Pedro  de  Mendana,  who  from  the  strong- 
holds in  his  possession,  committed  such 
grievous  devastations  throughout  the 
country,  that  the  cities  of  Burgos,  Avila, 
Salamanca,  Segovia,  Valladolid,  Medina, 
and  others  in  that  quarter,  were  fain  to 
pay  him  a tribute,  (black  mail,)  to  protect 
their  territories  from  his  rapacity.  His 
successful  example  was  imitated  by  many 
other  knightly  freebooters  of  the  period. 
(Reyes  Catolicos,  part.  2,  cap.  66.)— See 
also  extracts  cited  by  Saez  from  manu- 
script notices  by  contemporaries  of  Henry 
IV.  Monedas  de  Enrique  IV. , pp.  1,  2. 

2 The  Quaderno  of  the  laws  of  the  Her- 
mandad  has  now  become  very  rare.  That 
in  my  possession  was  printed  at  Burgos, 
in  1527.  It  has  since  been  incorporated 
with  considerable  extension  into  the  Re- 
copilacion  of  Philip  II. 

3 Quaderno  de  las  Leyes  Nuevas  de  la 
Hermandad,  (Burgos,  1527,)  leyes  1,  2,  3, 
4,  5,  6,  8,  16,  20,  36,  37.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Ca- 
tolicos, part.  2,  cap.  51. — L.  Marineo,  Co- 
sas  Memorables,  fol.  160,  ed.  1539. — Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.,  Ilust.  4.— 
Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  76. — Lebrija, 
Rerum  Gestarum  Decades,  fol.  36. — By 
one  of  the  laws,  the  inhabitants  of  such 
seignorial  towns  as  refused  to  pay  the 
contributions  of  the  Hermandad  were  ex- 
cluded from  its  benefits,  as  well  as  from 
traffic  with, and  even  the  power  of  recover- 
ing their  debts  from  other  natives  of  the 
kingdom.  Ley  33. 

4 Recopilacion  de  las  Leyes,  (Madrid, 
1640,)  lib.  8,  tit.  13,  ley  44.— Zuniga,  Anna- 
les  de  Sevilla,  p.  379.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Ca- 
tolicos, part.  2,  cap.  51.— Mem.  de  la  Acad, 
de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.,  Ilust.  6.— Lebrija,  Re- 
rum Gestarum  Decad.,  fol.  37,  38. — Las 
Pragm&ticas  del  Reyno,  (Sevilla,  1520,) 
fol.  85.— L.  Marineo,  Cosats  Memorables, 
fol.  160. 

6  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  76. — Pul- 
gar, Reyes  CatOlicos,  part.  2,  cap.  59. — 
Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  viii.  p. 


477.— Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decad., 
fol.  41,  42. — Gonzalo  de  Oviedo  lavishes 
many  encomiums  on  Cabrera,  for  “his 
generous  qualities,  his  singular  prudence 
in  government,  and  his  solicitude  for  his 
vassals,  whom  he  inspired  with  the  deep- 
est attachment.”  (Quincuagenas,  MS., 
bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  23.)  The  best  pane- 
gyric on  his  character,  is  the  unshaken 
confidence,  which  his  royal  mistress  re- 
posed in  him,  to  the  day  of  her  death. 

6 Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  881.— 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  part.  2,  cap.  65, 
70,  71.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  29.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  77.— 
L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  162.; 
who  says,  no  less  than  8,000  guilty  fied 
from  Seville  and  Cordova. 

7 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 

29. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  283.— Zu- 
niga, Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  382.— Lebrija, 
Rerum  Gestarum  Decades,  lib.  7.— L.  Ma- 
rineo, Cosas  Memorables,  ubi  supra.  Gari- 
bay,  Compendio,  lib.  18,  cap.  11. 

8 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 

30. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  part.  2,  cap. 
78. 

9 “Era  muy  inclinada,”  says  Pulgar, 
“ & facer  justicia,  tanto  que  le  era  impu- 
tado  seguir  mas  la  via  de  rigor  que  de  la 
piedad ; y esto  facia  por  remediar  & la 
gran  corrupcion  de  crlmines  que  fall6  en 
el  Reyno  quando  sudcediO  en  61.”  Reyes 
CatOlicos,  p.  37. 

10  puigar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  part.  2,  cap. 
97,  98.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables, 
fol.  162. 

1 1 Ordenangas  Reales  de  Castilla,  (Bur- 
gos, 1528,)  lib.  2,  tit.  3,  ley.  31.  This  con- 
stitutional, though,  as  it  would  seem,  im- 
potent right  of  the  nobility,  is  noticed  by 
Sempere.  (Hist,  des  Cortes,  pp.  123, 129.) 
It  should  not  have  escaped  Marina. 

12  Lib.  2,  tit.  3,  of  the  Ordenangas 
Reales  is  devoted  to  the  royal  council. 
The  number  of  the  members  was  limited 
to  one  prelate,  as  president,  three  knights, 
and  eight  or  nine  jurists.  (PrOlogo.)  The 
sessions  were  to  be  held  every  day,  in  the 
palace.  (Leyes  1,2.)  They  were  instruct- 
ed to  refer  to  the  other  tribunals  all 
matters  not  strictly  coming  within  their 
own  jurisdiction.  (Ley  4.)  Their  acts,  in 
all  cases  except  those  specially  reserved, 
were  to  have  the  force  of  law  without  the 
royal  signature,  (Leyes  23,  24.)  See  also 
Los  Doctores  Asso  y Manuel,  Institu- 
ciones  del  Derecho  Civil  de  Castilla, (Mad- 
rid, 1792,)  Introd.  p.  Ill;  and  Santiago 


CH.  VI.] 


PART  I. — ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


443 


Agustin  Riol,  Informe,  apud  Semanario 
Erudito,  (Madrid,  1788,)  tom.  iii.  p.  114, 
who  is  mistaken  in  stating  the' number  of 
jurists  in  the  council,  at  this  time,  at  six- 
teen ; a change,  which  did  not  take  place 
till  Philip  II. ’s  reign.  (Recop.  de  las 
Leyes,  lib.  2,  tit.  4,  ley.  1.)  Marina  denies 
that  the  council  could  constitutionally 
exercise  any  judicial  authority,  at  least, 
in  suits  between  private  parties,  and 
quotes  a passage  from  Pulgar,  showing 
that  its  usurpations  in  this  way  were  re- 
strained by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  (Te- 
orla,  part.  2,  cap.  29.)  Powers  of  this  na- 
ture, however,  to  a considerable  extent, 
appear  to  have  been  conceded  to  it  by 
more  than  one  statute  under  this  reign. 
See  Recop.  de  las  Leyes,  (lib.  2,  tit.  4,  leyes 
20,  22,  and  tit.  5,  ley  12,)  and  the  unquali- 
fied testimony  of  Riol,  Informe,  apud 
Semanario  Erudito,  ubi  supra. 

13  Ordenangas,  Reales,  lib.  2,  tit.  4.— Ma- 
rina, Teoria  de  las  Cortes,  part.  2,  cap. 
25.  By  one  of  the  statutes,  (ley  4,)  the 
commission  of  the  judges,  which  before 
extended  to  life,  or  a long  period,  was 
abridged  to  one  year.  This  important 
innovation  was  made  at  the  earnest  and 
repeated  remonstrance  of  Cortes,  who 
traced  the  remissness  and  corruption, 
too  frequent  of  late  in  the  court,  to  the 
;ircumstance  that  its  decisions  were  not 
liable  to  be  reviewed  during  life.  (Te- 
oria, ubi  supra.)  The  legislature  prob- 
ably mistook  the  true  cause  of  the  evil. 
Few  will  doubt,  at  any  rate,  that  the 
remedy  proposed  must  have  been  fraught 
with  far  greater. 

14  Ordenangas  Reales,  lib.  2,  tit.  1,  3,  4, 
15,  16,  17,  19;  lib.  3,  tit.  2. — Recop.  de  las 
Leyes,  lib.  2,  tit.  4,  5,  16.— Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  part.  2,  cap.  94. 

15  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS. — By  one 
of  the  statutes  of  the  Cortes  of  Toledo,  in 
1480,  the  king  was  required  to  take  his 
seat  in  the  council  every  Friday.  (Orde- 
nangas Reales,  lib.  2,  tit.  3,  ley  32.)  It  was 
not  so  new  for  the  Castilians  to  have  good 
laws,  as  for  their  monarchs  to  observe 
them. 

15  Sempere,  Hist,  des  Cortes,  p.  263. 

1 7 Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  p.  167.— See 
the  strong  language,  also,  of  Peter  Mar- 
tyr, another  contemporary  witness  of  the 
beneficial  changes  in  the  government. 
Opus  Epistolarum,  (Amstelodami,  1670,) 
ep.  31. 

1R  Prieto  y Sotelo,  Historiadel  Derecho 
Real  de  Espaha,  (Madrid,  1738,)  lib.  3, 


cap.  16-21. — Marina  has  maae  an  elabor- 
ate commenta^  on  Alfonso’s  celebrated 
code,  in  his  Ensayo  Historico-Critico 
sobre  la  Antigua  Legislacion  de  Castilla, 
(Madrid,  1808,)  pp.  269  et  seq.  The  Eng- 
lish reader  will  find  a more  succinct 
analysis  in  Dr.  Dunham’s  History  of 
Spain  and  Portugal,  (London,  1832,)  in 
Lardner’s  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  iv.  pp.  121- 
150.  The  latter  has  given  a more  exact, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  extended  view  of 
the  early  Castilian  legislation,  probably, 
than  is  to  be  found,  in  the  same  com- 
pass, in  any  of  the  Peninsular  writers. 

19  Marina  (in  his  Ensayo  Histdrico- 
Critico,  p.  388,)  quotes  a popular  satire  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  directed,  with  con- 
siderable humor,  against  these  abuses, 
which  lead  the  writer  in  the  last  stanza  to 
envy  even  the  summary  style  of  Mahome- 
tan justice: 

“ En  tierra  de  Moros  un  solo  alcade 
Libra  lo  cevil  e lo  creininal, 

E todo  el  dia  se  esta  de  valde 
Por  la  justicia  andar  muy  igual; 

Alii  non  es  Azo,  nin  es  Decretal, 

Nin  es  Roberto,  nin  la  Clementina, 

Salvo  discrecion  e buena  doctrina, 

La  qual  muestra  a todos  vevir  communal.” 
p.  389. 

20  Mendez  enumerates  no  less  than  five 
editions  of  this  code,  by  1500;  a sufficient 
evidence  of  its  authority,  and  general  re- 
ception throughout  Castile.  Typographia 
Espanola,  pp.  2C3,  261,  270. 

21  Ordenangas  Reales,  Pr61ogo.— Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust.  9.— 
Marina,  Ensayo  Historico-Critico,  pp.  390 
et  seq. — Mendez,  Typographia  Espanola, 
p.  261.— The  authors  of  the  three  last- 
mentioned  works  abundantly  disprove 
Asso  y Manuel’s  insinuation,  that  Mon- 
talvo’s code  was  the  fruit  of  his  private 
study,  without  any  commission  for  it, 
and  that  it  gradually  usurped  an  author- 
ity which  it  had  not  in  its  origin.  (Dis- 
curso  Preliminar  al  Ord.  de  Alcala.)  The 
injustice  of  the  last  remark,  indeed,  is 
apparent  from  the  positive  declaration  of 
Bernaldez.  “ Los  Reyes  mandaron  tener 
en  todas  las  ciudades,  villas  e lugares  el 
libro  de  Montalvo,  c por  el  determinar 
todas  las  cosas  de  justicia  para  cortar 
los pleitos."  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
42. 

22  Ordenangas,  Reales,  lib.  7,  tit.  2,  ley 
13. 

23  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  44. — Sempere  notices  this 
feature  of  the  royal  policy.  Hist,  des 
Cortes,  chap.  24. 


444 


PART  I. — ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTT£,E. 


24  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  80. 

25  Seetho  emphatic  language,  on  this 
and  other  grievances,  of  the  Castilian 
commons,  in  their  memorial  to  the  sover- 
eigns, Apendice,  No.  10,  of  Clemencin’s 
valuable  compilation.  The  commons  had 
pressed  the  measure,  as  one  of  the  last 
necessity  to  the  crown,  as  early  as  the 
Cortes  of  Madrigal,  in  1476.  The  reader 
will  find  the  whole  petition  extracted  by 
Marina,  Teorla,  tom.  ii.  cap.  5. 

26  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cr6n.  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  cap.  51. — Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 
Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust.  5.— Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  part.  2,  cap.  95. — Ordenangas 
Reales,  lib.  6,  tit.  4,  ley  26; — incorporated 
also  into  the  Recopilacion  of  Philip  II., 
lib.  5,  tit.  10,  cap.  17.  See  also  leyes  3 
and  15. 

27  Admiral  Enriquez,  for  instance,  re- 
signed 240,000  maravedies  of  his  annual 
income;— the  Duke  of  Alva,  575,000;— the 
Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  180,000.  — The 
loyal  family  of  the  Mendozas  were  also 
great  losers,  but  none  forfeited  so  much 
as  the  overgrown  favorite  of  Henry  IV., 
Beltram  de  la  Cueva,  duke  of  Albu- 
querque, who  had  uniformly  supported 
the  royal  cause,  and  whose  retrenchment 
amounted  to  1,400,000  maravedies  of 
yearly  rent.  See  the  scale  of  reduction 
given  at  length  by  Sen  or  Clemencin  in 
Mem.  de  la  Acad.,  tom.  vi.  loc.  cit. 

“No  monarch,”  said  the  high- 
minded  queen,  “should  consent  to  alien- 
ate his  demesnes;  since  the  loss  of  reve- 
nue necessarily  deprives  him  of  the  best 
means  of  rewarding  the  attachment  of 
his  friends,  and  of  making  himself  feared 
by  his  enemies.”  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdli- 
cos,  part.  1,  cap.  4. 

39  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra. 
—Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  loc. 
cit. 

co  Ordenanyas  Reales,  lib.  2,  tit.  1,  ley 
2:  lib.  4,  tit.  9,  ley  11.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Ca- 
tolicos, part.  2,  cap.  96, 101.— Recop.  de  las 
Leyes,  lib.  8,  tit.  8,  ley  10  et  al.— These  af- 
fairs were  conducted  in  the  true  spirit  of 
knight-errantry.  Oviedo  mentions  one, 
in  which  two  young  men  of  the  noble 
houses  of  Velasco  and  Ponce  de  Leon, 
agreed  to  fight  on  horse-back,  with  sharp 
spears  ( puntas  de  diamantes ),  in  doublet 
and  hose,  without  defensive  armor  of  any 
kind.  The  place  appointed  for  the  com- 
bat was  a narrow  bridge  across  the  Xara- 
ma,  three  leagues  from  Madrid.  Quin- 
cuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  23. 


[CH.  VI. 

31  Ferreras,  Hist,  d Espagne,  tom.  vii. 
pp.  487,  488. 

32  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  80.— Pul- 
gar, Reyes  Catdlicos,  part.  2,  cap.  100. 

33  For  example,  at  the  great  Cortes  of 
Toledo,  in  1480,  it  does  not  appear  that 
any  of  the  nobility  were  summoned,  ex- 
cept those  in  immediate  attendance  on 
the  court,  until  the  measure  for  the  re- 
sumption of  the  grants,  which  so  nearly 
affected  that  body,  was  brought  before 
the  legislature. 

34  Conde  gives  the  following  account 
of  these  chivalric  associations  among  the 
Spanish  Arabs,  which,  as  far  as  I know, 
has  hitherto  escaped  the  notice  of  Euro- 
pean historians.  ‘ ‘ The  Moslem  f router  os 
professed  great  austerity  in  their  lives, 
which  they  consecrated  to  perpetual  war, 
and  bound  themselves  by  a solemn  vow 
to  defend  the  frontier  against  the  incur- 
sions of  the  Christians.  They  were  choice 
cavaliers,  possessed  of  consummate  pa- 
tience, and  enduring  fatigue,  and  always 
prepared  to  die  rather  than  desert  their 
posts.  It  appears  highly  probable  that 
the  Moorish  fraternities  suggested  the 
idea  of  those  military  orders  so  renowned 
for  their  valor  in  Spain  and  in  Palestine, 
which  rendered  such  essential  services  to 
Christendom;  for  both  the  institutions 
were  established  on  similar  principles.” 
Conde,  Historia  de  la  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes  en  Espana,  (Madrid,  1820,  tom.  i. 
p.  619,  not. 

35  See  the  details,  given  by  Marina,  of 
the  overgrown  possessions  of  the  Temp- 
lars in  Castile  at  the  period  of  their  ex- 
tinction, in  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  (Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  15, 
cap.  10.)  The  knights  of  the  Temple  and 
the  Hospitallers  seem  to  have  acquired 
still  greater  power  in  Aragon,  where  one 
of  the  monarchs  was  so  infatuated  as  to 
bequeath  them  his  whole  dominions, — a 
bequest,  which  it  may  well  be  believed 
was  set  aside  by  his  high-spirited  sub- 
jects. Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  1,  cap.  52. 

36  The  apparition  of  certain  preter- 
natural lights  in  a forest,  discovered  to  a 
Galician  peasant,  in  the  beginning  cf  the 
ninth  century,  the  spot,  in  which  was  de- 
posited a marble  sepulchre  containing  the 
ashes  of  St.  James.  The  miracle  is  re- 
ported with  sufficient  circumstantiality 
by  Florez,  (Historia  Compostellana,  lib.  1, 
cap.  2,  apud  Espana  Sagrada,  tom.  xx.) 
and  Ambrosio  de  Morales,  (Cordnica, 
General  de  Espana,  [Obras,  Madrid,  1791- 


CH.  YI.J 


PART  I.— ADMINISTRATION  OF  CASTILE. 


445 


3,]  lib.  9,  cap.  7,)  who  establishes,  to  his 
own  satisfaction,  the  advent  of  St.  James 
into  Spain.  Marina,  with  more  skepti- 
cism than  his  brethren,  doubts  the  gen 
uineness  of  the  body,  as  well  as  the  visit 
of  the  Apostle,  but  like  a good  Jesuit 
concludes,  “ It  is  not  expedient  to  disturb 
with  such  disputes  the  devotion  of  the 
people,  so  firmly  settled  as  it  is.”  (Lib. 
7,  cap.  10.)  The  tutelar  saint  of  Spain 
continued  to  support  his  people  by  taking 
part  with  them  in  battle  against  the  infi- 
del down  to  a very  late  period.  Caro  de 
Torres  mentions  two  engagements  in 
'which  he  cheered  on  the  squadrons  of 
Cortes  and  Pizarro,  “ with  his  sword 
flashing  lightning  in  the  eyes  of  the  In- 
dians.” Ordenes  Militares,  fol.  5. 

37  Rades  y Andrada,  LasTres  Ordenes, 
fol.  3-15.— Caro  de  Torres,  Ordenes,  Mili- 
tares, fol.  2-8.  — Garibay,  Compendio, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  116-118. 

38  Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Ordenes, 
part.  2,  fol.  3-9,  49.  — Caro  de  Torres, 
Ordenes  Militares,  fol.  49,  50. — Garibay, 
Compendio,  tom.  ii.  pp.  100-104. 

39  Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Ordenes, 
part.  3,  fol.  1-6. — The  knights  of  Alcan- 
tara wore  a white  mantle,  embroidered 
with  a green  cross. 

40  Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Ordenes, 
part.  1,  fol.  12-15,  43,  54,  61,  64,  66,  67; 
part.  2,  fol.  11,  51;  part.  3,  fol.  42,  49,  50.— 
Caro  de  Torres,  Ordenes  Militares,  pass- 
im.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
33.— Garibay,  Compendio,  lib.  11,  cap.  13. 
— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  v.  lib.  1,  cap.  19. — 
Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc. 
2,  dial.  1. 

41  Caro  de  Torres,  Ordenes  Militares, 
fol.  46,  74,  83. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
part.  2,  cap.  64. — Rades  y Andrada,  Las 
Tres  Ordenes,  part.  1,  fol.  69,  70;  part.  2, 
fol.  82,  83;  part.  3,  fol.  54.  — Oviedo, 
Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  2,  dial. 
1. — The  sovereigns  gave  great  offence  to 
the  jealous  grandees  who  were  competi- 
tors for  the  mastership  of  St.  James,  by 
conferring  that  dignity  on  Alonso  de 
Cardenas,  with  their  usual  policy  of 
making  merit  rather  than  birth  the 
standard  of  preferment. 

42  Caro  de  Torres,  Ordenes  Militares, 
fol.  84. — Riol  has  given  a full  account  of 
the  constitution  of  this  council,  Informe, 
apud  Semanario  Erudito,  tom.  iii.  pp.  164 
et  seq. 

43  The  reader  will  find  a view  of  the 
condition  and  general  resources  of  the 


military  orders  as  existing  in  the  present 
century  in  Spain,  in  Laborde,  ItinSraire 
Descriptif  del’Espagne,(2d  edition,  Paris, 
1827-30,)  tom.  v.  pp.  102-117. 

44  Most  readers  are  acquainted  with 
the  curious  story,  related  by  Robertson, 
of  the  ordeal  to  which  the  Romish  and 
Muzarabic  rituals  were  subjected,  in  the 
reign  of  Alfonso  VI., and  the  ascendency, 
which  the  combination  of  king-craft  and 
priest-craft  succeeded  in  securing  to  the 
former  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  the  na- 
tion. Cardinal  Ximenes  afterwards  es- 
tablished a magnificent  chapel  in  the 
cathedral  church  of  Toledo  for  the  per- 
formance of  the  Muzarabic  services, 
which  have  continued  to  be  retained 
there  to  the  present  time.  F16chier,  His- 
toire  du  Cardinal  Ximin&s,  (Paris,  1693.) 
p.  142.— Bourgoanne,  Travels  in  Spain, 
Eng.  trans.,  vol.  iii.  chap.  1. 

45  Marina,  Ensayo  Historico-Crltico, 
nos.  322,  334,  311. — Riol,  Informe,  apud 
Semanario  Erudito,  pp.  92  et  seq. 

46  Marina,  Ensayo  Historico-Crltico, 
nos.  335-337. — Ordenangas  Reales,  lib.  1, 
tit.  3,  leyes  19,  20;  lib.  2,  tit.  7,  ley  2;  lib. 
3,  tit.  1,  ley  6. — Riol,  Informe,  apud  Se- 
manario Erudito,  loc.  cit.— In  the  latter 
part  of  Henry  IV. ’s  reign,  a papal  bull 
had  been  granted  against  the  provision 
of  foreigners  to  benefices.  Marina,  Hist, 
de  Espafia,  tom.  vii.  p.  196,  ed.  Valencia. 

47  Riol,  in  his  account  of  this  celebrat- 
ed concordat,  refers  to  the  original  in- 
instrument, as  existing  in  his  time  in  the 
archives  of  Simancas,  Semanario  Erudi- 
to, tom.  iii.  p.  95. 

48  “ Lo  que  es  ptiblico  hoy  en  Espafia  6 
notorio,”  says  Gonzalo  de  Oviedo,  “nun- 
ca  los  Reyes  Cathdlicos  desearon  ni  pro- 
curaron  sino  que  proveer  6 presentar 
para  las  dignidades  de  la  Iglesia  hombres 
capazes  6 idoneos  para  la  buena  admin- 
istracion  del  servicio  del  culto  divino,.  6 G, 
la  buena  ensefianza  6 utilidad  de  los 
Christianos  sus  vasallos;  y entre  todos 
los  varones  de  sus  Reynos  as!  por  la^go 
conoscimiento  como  per  larga  6 secreta 
informacion  acordaron  encojer  6 elegir,” 
etc.  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  dial,  de  Tala- 
vera. 

49  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron,  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  lib.  1,  cap.  52. — Idem,  Digni- 
dades de  Castilla,  p.  374.— Pulgar  Reyes 
Catdlicos,  part.  2,  cap.  104. — See  also  the 
similar  independent  conduct  pursued  by 
Ferdinand,  three  years  previous,  with 
reference  to  the  See  of  Taragona,  related 
by  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  304. 


446 


PART  I. — THE 

60  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  MS., 
cap.  44.— See  a letter  from  one  of  Henry's 
subjects,  cited  by  Saez,  Monedas  de  En- 
rique IV.,  p.  3. — Also  the  coarse  satire 
(composed  in  Henry’s  reign)  of  Mingo 
Revulgo,  especially  coplas  24-27. 

61  Pragm&ticas  del  Reyno,  fol.  64. — 
Ordenangas  Reales,  lib.  4,  tit.  4,  ley  22; 
lib.  5,  tit.  8,  ley  2;  lib.  6,  tit.  9,  ley  49;  lib. 
G,  tit.  10,  ley  13. — See  also  other  whole- 
some laws  for  the  encouragement  of 
commerce  and  general  security  of  proper- 
ty, as  that  respecting  contracts,  (lib.  5, 
tit.  8,  ley  5,) — fraudulent  tradesmen,  (lib. 
5,  tit.  8,  ley  5,) — purveyance,  (lib.  6,  tit.  11, 
ley  2 et  al. — Recopilacion  de  las  Leyes, 
lib.  5,  tit.  20,  21,  22;  lib.  C,  tit.  18,  ley  1.— 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  part.  2,  cap.  99. 
— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  312. — Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust.  11.) — 
The  revenue,  it  appears,  in  1477,  amount- 
ed to  27,415,228  maravedies;  and  in  the 
year  1482,  we  find  it  increased  to  150,695,- 
288  maravedies.  (Ibid.,  Ilust.  5.) — A sur- 
vey of  the  kingdom  was  made  between 
the  years  1477  and  1479,  for  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  the  value  of  the  royal 
rents,  which  formed  the  basis  of  the 
economical  regulations  adopted  by  the 
Cortes  of  Toledo.  Although  this  survey 
was  conducted  on  no  uniform  plan,  yet, 
according  to  Senor  Clemencin,  it  exhibits 
such  a variety  of  important  details  re- 
specting the  resources  and  population  of 
the  country,  that  it  must  materially  con- 
tribute towards  an  exact  history  of  this 
period.  The  compilation,  which  consisis 
of  twelve  folio  volumes  in  manuscript,  is 
deposited  in  the  archives  of  Simancas. 

52  One  of  the  statutes  passed  at  Toledo 
expressly  provides  for  the  erection  of 
spacious  and  handsome  edifices  ( casas 
grandes  y bien  fechas)  for  the  transaction 
of  municipal  affairs,  in  all  the  principal 
towns  and  cities  in  the  kingdom.  Orde- 
nangas  Reales,  lib.  7,  tit.  1,  ley  1.— See 
also  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  pass- 
im,— et  al.  auct. 

53  ‘;Cosa  fue  por  cierto  maravillosa,” 
exclaims  Pulgar,  in  his  Glosa  on  the  Min- 
go Revulgo,  “que  lo  que  muchos  hom- 
bres,  y grandes  senores  no  se  acordaron 
4 hacer  en  muchos  anos,  solaunamuger , 
con  su  trabajo,  y gobernacion  lo  hizo  en 
poco  tiempo.”  Copla  21. 

64  Th©  beautiful  lines  of  Virgil,  so  often 
misapplied, 

“ Jam  redit  et  Virgo;  redeunt  Saturnia  regna; 

Jam  nova  progenies,”  etc. 


INQUISITION.  [CH.  VII. 

seems  to  admit  here  of  a pertinent  appli- 
cation. 

65  Carro  de  las  Dohas,  apud  Mem.  de  la 
Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust.  21.— As  one 
example  of  the  moral  discipline  intro- 
duced by  Isabella  in  her  court,  we  may 
cite  the  enactments  against  gaming, 
which  had  been  carried  to  great  excess 
under  the  preceding  reigns.  (See  Orde- 
nangas  Reales,  lib.  2,  tit.  14,  ley  31 ; lib.  8, 
tit.  10,  ley  7.)  L.  Marineo,  according  to 
whom,  “ hell  is  full  of  gamblers,”  highly 
commends  the  sovereigns  for  their  efforts 
to  discountenance  this  vice.  Cosas  Me- 
morables, fol.  165. 

56  See,  for  example,  the  splendid  cere- 
mony of  Prince  John’s  baptism,  to  which 
the  gossiping  Curate  of  Los  Palacios  de- 
votes the  32d  and  33d  chapters  of  his 
History. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  VII. 

1 Mosheim,  Ecclesiastical  History, 
translated  by  Maclaine,  (Charlestown, 
1810,)  cent.  13,  P.  2,  chap.  5. — Sismondi, 
Histoire  des  Frangais,  (Paris,  1821.)  tom. 
vi.  chap.  24-28 ; tom.  vii.  chap.  2,  3.— 
Idem,  De  la  Literature  du  Midi  de  l’Eu- 
rope,  (Paris,  1813,)  tom.  i.  chap.  6. — In  the 
former  of  these  works  M.  Sismondi  has 
described  the  physical  ravages  of  the 
crusades  in  southern  France,  with  the 
same  spirit  and  eloquence,  with  which  he 
has  exhibited  their  desolating  moral  in- 
fluence in  the  latter.  Some  Catholic  writ- 
ers would  fain  excuse  St.  Dominic  from 
the  imputation  of  having  founded  the  In- 
quisition. It  is  true  he  died  some  years 
before  the  perfect  organization  of  that 
tribunal ; but,  as  he  established  the  prin- 
ciples on  which,  and  the  monkish  militia, 
by  whom,  it  was  administered,  it  is  doing 
him  no  injustice  to  regard  him  as  its  real 
author. — The  Sicilian  Paramo,  indeed,  in 
his  heavy  quarto,  (De  Origine  et  Progres- 
su  Officii  Sanctse  Inquisitionis,  Matriti, 
1598,)  traces  it  up  to  a much  more  remote 
antiquity,  which,  to  a Protestant  ear  at 
least,  savors  not  a little  of  blasphemy. 
According  to  him,  God  was  the  first  in- 
quisitor, and  his  condemnation  of  Adam 
and  Eve  furnished  the  model  of  the  ju- 
dicial forms  observed  in  the  trials  of  the 
Holy  Office.  The  sentence  of  Adam  was 
the  type  of  the  inquisitorial  reconcilia- 
tion; his  subsequent  raiment  of  the  skins 
of  animals  was  the  model  of  the  san- 
benito,  and  his  expulsion  from  Paradise 
the  precedent  for  the  confiscation  of  the 
goods  of  heretics.  This  learned  person- 


PART  I. — THE  INQUISITION. 


447 


CH.  VII.] 

age  deduces  a succession  of  inquisitors  j 
through  the  patriarchs,  Moses,  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and  King  David,  down  to  John 
the  Baptist,  and  even  our  Saviour,  in 
whose  precepts  and  conduct  he  finds 
abundant  authority  for  the  tribunal ! Pa- 
ramo, De  Origine  Inquisitionis,  lib.  1,  tit. 
1,  2,  3. 

2 Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Frangais,  tom.  vii. 
chap.  3.— Limborch,  History  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, translated  by  Chandler,  (London, 
1731,)  book  1,  chap.  24.— Llorente,  Histoire 
Critique  de  P Inquisition  d’Espagne,  (Paris, 
1818,)  tom.  i.  p.  110. — Before  this  time  we 
find  a constitution  of  Peter  I.  of  Aragon 
against  heretics,  prescribing  in  certain 
cases  the  burning  of  heretics  and  the  con- 
fiscation of  their  estates,  in  1197.  Marca, 
Marca  Hispanica,  sive  Limes  Hispanicus, 
(Parisiis,  1688,)  p.  1384. 

3 Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Vetus,  tom. 
ii.  p.  186. — Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisition, 
tom.  i.  pp.  110-124.  — Puigblanch  cites 
some  of  the  instructions  from  Eymerich's 
work,  whose  authority  in  the  courts  of 
the  Inquisition  he  compares  to  that  of 
Gratian’s  Decretals  in  other  ecclesiastical 
judicatures.  One  of  these  may  suffice  to 
show  the  spirit  of  the  whole.  “ When  the 
inquisitor  has  an  opportunity,  he  shall 
manage  so  as  to  introduce  to  the  conver- 
sation of  the  prisoner  some  one  of  his  ac- 
complices, or  any  other  converted  heretic, 
who  shall  feign  that  he  still  persists  in  his 
heresy,  telling  him  that  he  had  abjured 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  escaping  punish- 
ment, by  deceiving  the  inquisitors.  Hav- 
ing thus  gained  his  confidence,  he  shall 
go  into  his  cell  some  day  after  dinner, 
and,  keeping  up  the  conversation  till 
night,  shall  remain  with  him  under  pre- 
text of  its  being  too  late  for  him  to  return 
home.  He  shall  then  urge  the  prisoner 
to  tell  him  all  the  particulars  of  his  past 
life,  having  first  told  him  the  whole  of  his 
own ; and  in  the  mean  time  spies  shall  be 
kept  in  hearing  at  the  door,  as  well  as  a 
notary,  in  order  to  certify  what  may  be 
said  within.”  Puigblanch,  Inquisition 
Unmasked,  translated  by  Walton,  (Lon- 
don, 1816,)  vol.  i.  pp.  238,  239. 

4 Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  12,  cap. 
11  ; lib.  21,  cap.  17.— Llorente,  Hist,  de 
l’lnquisition,  tom.  i.  chap.  3. — The  nature 
of  the  penance  imposed  on  reconciled 
heretics  by  the  ancient  Inquisition  was 
much  more  severe  than  that  of  later 
times.  Llorente  cites  an  act  of  St.  Domi- 
nic respecting  a person  of  this  descrip- 
tion, named  Ponce  Roger.  The  penitent 


was  commanded  to  be  “ stripped  of  his 
clothes  and  beaten  with  rods  by  a priest , 
three  Sundays  in  succession , from  the 
gate  of  the  city  to  the  door  of  the  church; 
not  to  eat  any  kind  of  animal  food  during 
his  whole  life ; to  keep  three  Lents  a 
year,  without  even  eating  fish  ; to  abstain 
from  fish,  oil,  and  wine  three  days  in  the 
week  during  life,  except  in  case  of  sick- 
ness or  excessive  labor ; to  wear  a re- 
ligious dress  with  a small  cross  embroid- 
ered on  each  side  of  the  breast ; to  attend 
mass  every  day,  if  he  had  the  means  of 
doing  so,  and  vespers  on  Sundays  and 
festivals ; to  recite  the  service  for  the 
day  and  the  night,  and  to  repeat  the 
pater  noster  seven  times  in  the  day,  ten 
times  in  the  evening,  and  twenty  times  at 
midnight ! ” (Ibid.,  chap.  4.)  If  the  said 
Roger  failed  in  any  of  the  above  requisi- 
tions, he  was  to  be  burnt  as  a relapsed 
heretic  ! This  was  the  encouragement 
held  out  by  St.  Dominic  to  penitence. 

5 Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  Loix,  liv.  28, 
chap.  1.  — See  the  canon  of  the  17'th  coun- 
cil of  Toledo,  condemning  the  Israelitish 
race  to  bondage,  in  Florez,  Espafia  Sa- 
grada,  (Madrid,  1747-75,)  tom.  vi.  p.  229. — 
Fuero  Juzgo  (ed.  de  la  Acad.  [Madrid, 
1815,]  lib.  12,  tit.  2 and  3,)  is  composed  of 
the  most  inhuman  ordinances  against  this 
unfortunate  people. 

6 The  Koran  grants  protection  to  the 
Jews  on  payment  of  tribute.  See  the 
Koran,  translated  by  Sale,  (London,  1825,) 
chap.  9. 

7 The  first  academy  founded  by  the 
learned  Jews  in  Spain  was  that  of  Cordo- 
va, A.  D.,  948.  Castro,  Biblioteca  Espa* 
nola,  tom.  i.  p.  2. — Basnage,  History  of 
the  Jews,  translated  by  Taylor,  (London, 
1708,)  book  7,  chap.  5. 

8 In  addition  to  their  Talmudic  lore  and 
Cabalistic  mysteries,  the  Spanish  Jews 
were  well  read  in  the  philosophy  of  Aris- 
totle. They  pretended  that  the  Stagirite 
was  a convert  to  Judaism  and  had  bor- 
rowed his  science  from  the  writings  of 
Solomon.  (Brucker,  Historia  Critica 
Philosophise,  [Lipsiae,  1766,]  tom.  ii.  p. 
853.)  M.  Degerando,  adopting  similar 
conclusions  with  Brucker,  in  regard  to 
the  value  of  the  philosophical  specula- 
tions of  the  Jews,  passes  the  following 
severe  sentence  upon  the  intellectual, 
and  indeed  moral  character  of  the  nation : 
“Ce  peuple,  par  son  caractere,  sesmoe- 
urs,  ses  institutions,  semblait  etre  des. 
tin6  a rester  stationnaire.  Un  attache- 
ment  excessif  5,  leurs  propres  traditions 


448 


PART  I. — THE  INQUISITION. 


dominait  cliez  les  Juifs  tous  les  penchans 
de  l’esprit : ils  restaient  presque  stran- 
gers aux  progres  de  la  civilisation,  au 
mouvement  general  de  la  sociStS ; ils 
Staien  en  quelque  sorte  moralement 
isoles,  alors  meme  qu’ils  commiiniquaient 
avec  tous  les  peuples,  et  parcouraient 
toutes  les  contrSes.  Aussi  nous  cherchons 
en  vain,  dans  ceux  de  leurs  Scrits  qui  nous 
sont  connus,  non  seulement  de  vraies 
decouvertes,  mais  meme  des  idSes  rSelle- 
ment  originates.”  Histoire  ComparSe 
des  Systdmes  de  Philosophic,  (Paris,  1822,) 
tom.  iv.  p.  299. 

9 Castro,  Biblioteca  Espanola,  tom.  i. 
pp.  21,  33,  et  alibi.— Benjamin  of  Tudela’s 
celebrated  Itinerary,  having  been  trans- 
lated into  the  various  languages  of  Eu- 
rope, passed  into  sixteen  editions  before 
the  middle  of  the  last  century.  Ibid., 
tom.  i.  pp.  79,  80. 

10  The  beautiful  lament,  which  the 
royal  psalmist  has  put  into  the  mouths  of 
his  countrymen,  when  commanded  to 
sing  the  songs  of  Sion  in  a strange  land, 
cannot  be  applied  to  the  Spanish  Jews, 
who,  far  from  hanging  their  harps  upon 
the  willows,  poured  forth  their  lays  with 
a freedom  and  vivacity,  which  may  be 
thought  to  savor  more  of  the  modern 
troubador,  than  of  the  ancient  Hebrew 
minstrel.  Castro  has  collected,  under 
Siglo  XV.,  a few  gleanings  of  such,  as  by 
their  incorporation  into  a Christian  Can- 
cionero,  escaped  the  fury  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. Biblioteca  Espahola,  tom.  i.  pp. 
265-364. 

11  Castro  has  done  for  the  Hebrew, 
what  Casiri  a few  years  before  did  for  the 
Arabic  literature  of  Spain,  by  giving 
notices  of  such  works  as  have  survived 
the  ravages  of  time  and  superstition.  The 
first  volume  of  his  Biblioteca  Espanola 
contains  an  analysis  accompanied  with 
extracts  from  more  than  seven  hundred 
different  works,  with  biographical  sketch- 
es of  their  authors ; the  whole  bearing 
most  honorable  testimony  to  the  talent 
and  various  erudition  of  the  Spanish 
Jews. 

12  Basnage,  History  of  the  Jews,  book 
7,  chap.  5,  15,  16. — Castro,  Biblioteca  Es- 
panola, tom.  i.  pp.  116,  265,  267.— Marina, 
Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  i.  p.  960; — tom.  ii. 
pp.  63,  147,  459.— Samuel  Levi,  treasurer 
of  Peter  the  Cruel,  who  was  sacrificed  to 
the  cupidity  of  his  master,  is  reported  by 
Marina  to  have  left  behind  him  the  in- 
credible sum  of  400,000  ducats  to  swell 
the  royal  coffers.  Tom.  ii.  p.  82. 


[CH.  VII. 

1 3 Sir  Walter  Scott,  with  his  usual  dis- 
cernment, has  availed  himself  of  these 
opposite  traits  in  his  portraits  of  Rebecca 
and  Isaac  in  Ivanhoe,  in  which  he  seems 
to  have  contrasted  the  lights  and  shad- 
ows of  the  Jewish  character.  The  hu- 
miliating state  of  the  Jews,  however,  ex- 
hibited in  this  romance,  affords  no  analo- 
gy to  their  social  condition  in  Spain ; as  is 
evinced  not  merely  by  their  wealth, 
which  was  also  conspicuous  in  the  Eng- 
lish Jews,  but  by  the  high  degree  of 
civilization,  and  even  political  conse- 
quence, which,  notwithstanding  the  oc- 
casional ebullitions  of  popular  prejudice, 
they  were  permitted  to  reach  there. 

14  Calumnies  of  this  kind  were  current 
all  over  Europe.  The  English  reader 
will  call  to  mind  the  monkish  fiction  of 
the  little  Christian, 

“ Slain  with  cursed  Jewes,  as  it  is  notable,” 
singing  most  devoutly  after  his  throat 
was  cut  from  ear  to  ear,  in  Chaucer’s 
Prioresse’s  Tale.  See  another  instance 
in  the  old  Scottish  ballad  of  the  “Jew’s 
Daughter”  in  Percy’s  “ Reliques  of  An- 
cient Poetry.” 

15  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  43.— Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom. 
ii.  pp.  186,  187. — In  1391,  5,000  Jews  were 
sacrificed  to  the  popular  fury,  and  ac- 
cording to  Marina,  no  less  than  10,000 
perished  from  the  same  cause  in  Navarre 
about  sixty  years  before.  See  tom.  i.  p. 
912. 

16  According  to  Marina,  the  restoration 
of  sight  to  the  blind,  feet  to  the  lame, 
even  life  to  the  dead,  were  miracles  of 
ordinary  occurrence  with  St.  Vincent. 
(Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  pp.  229,  230.) 
The  age  of  miracles  had  probably  ceased 
by  Isabella’s  time,  or  the  Inquisition 
might  have  been  spared.  Nic.  Antonio 
in  his  notice  of  the  life  and  labors  of  this 
Dominican,  (Bibliotheca  Vetus,  tom.  ii. 
pp.  205,  207,)  states  that  he  preached  his 
inspired  sermons  in  his  vernacular  Va- 
lencian  dialect  to  audiences  of  French, 
English;  and  Italians,  indiscriminately, 
who  all  understood  him  perfectly  well; 
“a  circumstance,”  says  Dr.  McCrie,  in 
his  valuable  “ History  of  the  Progress 
and  Suppression  of  the  Reformation  in 
Spain,”  (Edinburgh,  1829,)  “which,  if  it 
prove  any  thing,  proves  that  the  hearers 
of  St.  Vincent  possessed  more  miracu- 
lous powers  than  himself,  and  that  they 
should  have  been  canonized,  rather  than 
the  preacher.”  p.  87,  note. 


PART  I. — THE  INQUISITION. 


449 


CH.  VII.] 

1 7 They  were  interdicted  from  the  call- 
ings of  vintners,  grocers,  taverners,  es- 
pecially of  apothecaries,  and  of  physi- 
cians, and  nurses.  Ordenangas  Reales, 
lib.  8,  tit.  3,  leyes  11,  15.  18. 

1 8 No  law  was  more  frequently  reiterat- 
ed than  that  prohibiting  the  Jews  from 
acting  as  stewards  of  the  nobility,  or 
farmers  and  collectors  of  the  public  rents. 
The  repetition  of  this  law  shows  to  what 
extent  that  people  had  engrossed  what 
little  was  known  of  financial  science  in 
that  day.  For  the  multiplied  enactments 
in  Castile  against  them,  see  Ordenangas 
Reales,  (lib.  8,  tit.  3.)  For  the  regulations 
respecting  the  Jews  in  Aragon,  many  of 
them  oppressive,  particularly  at  the 
commencement  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
see  Fueros  y Observancias  del  Reyno  de 
Aragon,  (Zaragoza,  1667,)  tom.  i.  fol.  6. — 
Marca  Hispanica,  pp.  1416,  1433.— Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  iii.  lib.  12,  cap.  45. 

19  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catblicos,  MS., 
cap.  43. — Llorente,  Hist,  de  lTnquisition, 
pref . p.  26. — A manuscript  entitled  Tizon 
de  Espana,  (Brand  of  Spain,)  tracing  up 
many  a noble  pedigree  to  a Jewish  or 
Mahometan  root,  obtained  a circulation, 
to  the  great  scandal  of  the  country, 
which  the  efforts  of  the  government, 
combined  with  those  of  the  Inquisition 
have  not  been  wholly  able  to  suppress. 
Copies  of  it,  however,  are  now  rarely  to 
be  met  with.  (Doblado,  Letters  from 
Spain,  [London,  1822,]  let.  2.)  Clemencin 
notices  two  works  with  this  title,  one  as 
ancient  as  Ferdinand  and  Isabella’s  time, 
and  both  written  by  bishops.  Mem.  de  la 
Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  p.  125. 

20  Marina,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  p. 
479.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  part.  2, 
cap.  77. 

21  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  43. 

22  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  ubi 
supra.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  part.  2, 
cap.  77.— Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p. 
336.— Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
p.  44.— Llorente,  tom.  i.  pp.  143,  145. 
Some  writers  are  inclined  to  view  the 
Spanish  Inquisition,  in  its  origin,  as  little 
else  than  a political  engine.  Guizot  re- 
marks of  the  tribunal,  in  one  of  his  lec- 
tures, “Elle  contenait  en  germe  ce  qu’ 
elle  est  de  venue ; mais  elle  ne  l’6tait  pas 
en  commengant:  elle  fut  d’abord  plus 
politique  que  religieuse,  et  destin6e  a 
maintenir  l’ordre  plutot  qu’a  dSfendre  la 
foi.”  (Cours  d’Histoire  Moderne,  [Paris, 
1828-30,]  tom.  v.  lec.  11.)  This  statement 


is  inaccurate  in  reference  to  Castile, 
where  the  facts  do  not  warrant  us  in  im- 
puting any  other  motive  for  its  adoption 
than  religious  zeal.  The  general  charac- 
ter of  Ferdinand,  as  well  as  the  circum- 
stances under  which  it  was  introduced 
into  Aragon,  may  justify  the  inference  of 
a more  wmrldly  policy  in  its  establish- 
ment there.  * 

23  Essai  sur  les  Mceurs  et  l'Esprit  des 
Nations,  chap.  176. 

24  Sigiienza,  Historia  de  la  Orden  de 
San  Geronimo,  apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 
Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust.  13.— This  anecdote  is 
more  characteristic  of  the  order  than  the 
individual.  Oviedo  has  given  a brief  no- 
tice of  this  prelate,  whose  virtues  raised 
him  from  the  humblest  condition  to  the 
highest  posts  in  the  church,  and  gained 
him,  to  quote  that  writer’s  words,  the 
appellation  of  “El  sancto,  6 el  buen 
arzobispo  en  toda  Espana.”  Quincuage- 
nas,  MS.,  dial,  de  Taiavera. 

25  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  323. 

26  The  uniform  tenderness  with  which 
the  most  liberal  Spanish  writers  of  the 
present  comparatively  enlightened  age, 
as  Marina,  Llorente,  Clemencin,  etc.,  re- 
gard the  memory  of  Isabella,  affords  an 
honorable  testimony  to  the  unsuspected 
integrity  of  her  motives.  Even  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Inquisition,  her  countrymen 
would  seem  willing  to  draw  a veil  over 
her  errors,  or  to  excuse  her  by  charging 
them  on  the  age  in  which  she  lived. 

27  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  part.  2,  cap. 
77.  — Bernaldez,  Reyes,  Cat61icos,  MS.,* 
cap.  43.— Llorente,  Hist,  de  lTnquisition, 
tom.  i.  pp.  143-145. — Much  discrepancy 
exists  in  the  narratives  of  Pulgar,  Ber- 
naldez, and  other  contemporary  writers, 
in  reference  to  the  era  of  the  establish- 
ment of  the  modern  Inquisition.  I have 
followed  Llorente,  whose  chronological 
accuracy,  here  and  elsewhere,  rests  on 
the  most  authentic  documents. 

28  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  MS.,  ubi 
supra.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdiicos,  part.  2, 
cap.  77. — I find  no  contemporary  author- 
ity  for  imputing  to  cardinal  Mendoza  an 
active  agency  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Inquisition,  as  is  claimed  for  him  by  later 
writers,  and  especially  his  kinsman  and 
biographer,  the  canon  Salazar  de  Men- 
doza. (Cr6n.  del  Gran  Cardenal,  lib.  1, 
cap.  49. — Monarquia,  tom.  i.  p.  336.)  The 
conduct  of  this  eminent  minister  in  this 
affair  seems,  on  the  contrary,  to  have 
been  equally  politic  and  humane.  The 


450 


PART  I.— THE  INQUISITION. 


[CH.  VII. 


imputation  of  bigotry  was  not  cast  upon 
it,  until  the  age  when  bigotry  was  es- 
teemed a virtue. 

29  In  the  interim,  a caustic  publication 
by  a Jew  appeared,  containing  strictures 
on  the  conduct  of  the  administration, 
and  even  on  the  Christian  religion,  which 
was  controverted  at  length  by  Talavera, 
afterwards  archbishop  of  Granada.  The 
scandal  occasioned  by  this  ill-timed  pro- 
duction undoubtedly  contributed  to  ex- 
acerbate the  popular  odium  against  the 
Israelites. 

30  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the 
famous  Cortes  of  Toledo,  assembled  but 
a short  time  previous  to  the  above-men- 
tioned ordinances,  and  which  enacted 
several  oppressive  laws  in  relation  to  the 
Jews,  made  no  allusion  whatever  to  the 
proposed  establishment  of  a tribunal, 
which  was  to  be  armed  with  such  terrific 
powers. 

31  This  ordinance,  in  which  Llorente 
discerns  the  first  regular  encroachment 
of  the  new  tribunal  on  the  civil  jurisdic- 
tion, was  aimed  partly  at  the  Andalusian 
nobility,  who  afforded  a shelter  to  the 
Jewish  fugitives.  Llorente  has  fallen  in- 
to the  error,  more  than  once,  of  speak- 
ing of  the  count  of  Arcos,  and  marquis  of 
Cadiz,  as  separate  persons.  The  possess- 
or of  both  titles  was  Rodrigo  Ponce  de 
Leon,  who  inherited  the  former  of  them 
from  his  father.  The  latter  (which  he 
afterwards  made  so  illustrious  in  the 
Moorish  wars)  was  conferred  on  him  by 
Henry  IV. , being  derived  from  the  city 
of  that  name,  which  had  been  usurped 
from  the  crown. 

32  The  historian  of  Seville  quotes  the 
Latin  inscription  on  the  portal  of  the  edi- 
fice in  which  the  sittings  of  the  dread 
tribunal  wrere  held.  Its  concluding  apos- 
trophe to  the  Deity  is  one  that  the  perse- 
cuted might  join  in,  as  heartily  as  their 
oppressors.  “Exurge  Domine;  judica 
causam  tuam ; capite  nobis  vulpes.  ’ ’ Zu- 
niga, Annales  de  Se . ilia,  p.  389. 

33  Ordenangas  Reales,  lib.  8,  tit.  3,  ley 
26. 

34,  Llorente,  Hist,  de  ITnquisition,  tom. 
i.  pp.  153-159. 

35  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  44. — Llorente,  Hist,  de  ITnquisition, 
tom.  i.  p.  160.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Me- 
morables,  fol.  164.— The  language  of  Ber- 
naldez as  applied  to  the  four  statues  of 
the  quemadero,  “ en  que  los  quemavan,” 
is  so  equivocal,  that  it  has  led  to  some 


doubts  whether  he  meant  to  assert  that 
the  persons  to  be  burnt  were  enclosed  in 
the  statues,  or  fastened  to  them.  Llo- 
rente’s  subsequent  examination  has  led 
him  to  discard  the  first  horrible  suppo- 
sition, which  realized  the  fabled  cruelty 
of  Phalaris. — This  monument  of  fanati, 
cism  continued  to  disgrace  Seville  till  1810- 
when  it  was  removed  in  order  to  make 
room  for  the  construction  of  a battery 
against  the  French. 

36  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables.  fol. 
164. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  44.— Marina,  lib.  24,  cap.  17. — Llo- 
rente, Hist,  de  ITnquisition,  ubi  supra. — 
L.  Marineo  diffuses  the  2,000  capital  ex- 
ecutions over  several  years.  He  sums  up 
the  various  severities  of  the  Holy  Office 
in  the  following  gentle  terms.  “The 
church,  who  is  the  mother  of  mercy  and 
the  fountain  of  charity,  content  with  the 
imposition  of  penances,  generously  ac- 
cords life  to  many  who  do  not  deserve  it. 
While  those  who  persist  obstinately  in 
their  errors,  after  being  imprisoned  on 
the  testimony  of  trustworthy  witnesses, 
she  causes  to  be  put  to  the  torture,  and 
condemned  to  the  flames ; some  misera- 
bly perish,  bewailing  their  errors,  and  in- 
voking the  name  of  Christ,  while  others 
call  upon  that  of  Moses.  Many  again, 
who  sincerely  repent,  she,  notwithstand- 
ing the  heinous  ness  of  their  transgress- 
ions, merely  sentences  to  perpetual  im- 
prisonment/”  Such  were  the  tender 
mercies  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition. 

37  Bernaldez  states,  that  guards  were 
posted  at  the  gates  of  the  city  of  Seville 
in  order  to  prevent  the  emigration  of  the 
Jewish  inhabitants,  which  indeed  was 
forbidden  under  pain  of  death.  The  tri- 
bunal, however,  had  greater  terrors  for 
them,  and  many  succeeded  in  effecting 
their  escape.  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
44. 

38  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
164.— Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  396.— 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catclicos,  part.  2,  cap.  77. — 
Garibay,  Compendio,  tom.  ii.  lib.  18,  cap. 
17.— Paramo,  De  Oiigine  Inquisitionis,  lib. 
2,  tit.  2,  cap.  2.— Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnqui- 
sition,  tom.  i.  pp.  163-173. 

39  Over  these  subordinate  tribunals 
Ferdinand  erected  a court  of  supervision, 
with  appelate  jurisdiction,  under  the 
name  of  Council  of  the  Supreme,  consist- 
ing of  the  grand  inquisitor,  as  president? 
and  three  other  ecclesiastics,  two  of  them 
doctors  of  law.  The  principal  purpose  of 
this  new  creation  was  to  secure  the  inter' 


CH.  VII.] 


PART  I. — THE  INQUISITION. 


451 


est  of  the  crown  in  the  confiscated  prop- 
erty, and  to  guard  against  the  encroach- 
ment of  the  Inquisition  on  secular  juris- 
diction. The  expedient,  however,  wholly 
failed,  because  most  of  the  questions 
brought  before  this  court  were  deter- 
mined by  the  principles  of  the  canon  law, 
of  which  the  grand  inquisitor  was  to  be 
sole  interpretor,  the  others  having  only, 
as  it  was  termed,  a “ consultative  voice.” 
Llorente,  tom.  i.  pp.  173,  174.— Zurita,  An- 
ales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  324. — Riol,  Informe, 
apud  Semanario  Erudito,  tom.  iii.  pp.  156 
et  seq. 

4°  Puigblanch,  Inquisition  Unmasked, 
vol.  i.  chap.  4.— Llorente,  Hist,  de  l'lnqui- 
sition,  tom.  i.  chap.  6,  art.  1 ; chap.  9,  art. 
1,  2. — The  witnesses  were  questioned  in 
such  general  terms,  that  they  were  even 
kept  in  ignorance  of  the  particular  matter 
respecting  which  they  were  expected  to 
testify.  Thus,  they  were  asked  “if  they 
knew  any  thing  which  had  been  said  or 
done  contrary  to  the  Catholic  faith,  and 
the  interests  of  the  tribunal.”  Their  an- 
swers often  opened  a new  scent  to  the 
judges,  and  thus,  in  the  language  of  Mon- 
tanus,  “ brought  more  fishes  into  the  in- 
quisitors’ holy  angle.”  See  Montanus, 
Discovery  and  Playne  Declaration  of  sun- 
dry subtill  Practises  of  the  Holy  Inquisi- 
tion of  Spayne,  Eng.  trans.  (London, 
1569,)  fol.  14. 

41  Limborch,  Inquisition,  book  4,  chap. 
20.— Montanus,  Inquisition  of  Spayne,  fol. 
6-15.  — Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisition, 
tom.  i.  chap.  6,  art.  1 ; chap.  9,  art.  4-9. 
Puigblanch,  Inquisition  Unmasked,  vol. 
i.  chap.  4. 

42  Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisition,  tom. 
i.  chap.  9,  art.  7.— By  a subsequent  regu- 
lation of  Philip  II.,  the  repetition  of  tor- 
ture in  the  same  process  was  strictly  pro- 
hibited to  the  inquisitors.  But  they, 
making  use  of  a sophism  worthy  of  the 
arch-fiend  himself,  tried  to  evade  this  law, 
by  pretending  after  each  new  infliction  of 
punishment,  that  they  had  only  suspend- 
ed, and  not  terminated  the  torture  1 

43  Montanus,  Inquisition  of  Spayne,  fol. 
24  et  seq.— Limborch,  Inquisition,  vol.  ii. 
chap.  29. — Puigblanch,  Inquisition  Un- 
masked, vol.  i.  chap.  4.— Llorente,  Hist, 
de  lTnquisition,  ubi  supra. — I shall  spare 
the  reader  the  description  of  the  various 
modes  of  torture,  the  rack,  fire,  and  pul- 
ley,  practised  by  the  inquisitors,  which 
have  been  so  often  detailed  in  the  doleful 
narratives  of  such  as  have  had  the  fortune 


to  escape  with  life  from  the  fangs  of  the 
tribunal.  If  we  are  to  believe  Llorente, 
these  barbarities  have  not  been  decreed 
for  a long  time.  Yet  some  recent  state- 
ments are  at  variance  with  this  assertion. 
See,  among  others,  the  celebrated  adven- 
turer Van  Halen's  “ Narrative  of  his  Im- 
prisonment in  the  Dungeons  of  the  Inqui- 
sition at  Madrid,  and  his  Escape  in  1817 
-18.” 

44  The  prisoner  had  indeed  the  right  of 
challenging  any  witness  on  the  ground  of 
personal  enmity.  (Llorente,  Hist,  de 
1’ Inquisition,  tom.  i.  chap.  9,  art.  10.)  But 
as  he  was  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  names 
of  the  witnesses  employed  against  him. 
and  as  even,  if  he  conjectured  right,  the 
degree  of  enmity,  competent  to  set  aside 
testimony,  was  to  be  determined  by  his 
judges,  it  is  evident  that  his  privilege  of 
challenge  was  wholly  nugatory. 

4 5 Confiscation  had  long  been  decreed 
as  the  punishment  of  convicted  heretics 
by  the  statutes  of  Castile.  (Ordenan^as 
Reales,  lib.  8,  tit.  4.)  The  avarice  of  the 
present  system,  however,  is  exemplified 
by  the  fact,  that  those,  who  confessed 
and  sought  absolution  within  the  brief 
term  of  grace  allowed  by  the  inquisitors 
from  the  publication  of  their  edict,  were 
liable  to  arbitrary  fines ; and  those  who 
confessed  after  that  period,  escaped  with 
nothing  short  of  confiscation.  Llorente, 
Hist,  de  l’lnquisition,  tom.  i.  pp.  176,  177. 

46  Ibid.,  tom.  i.  p.  216. — Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  iv.  fol.  324. — Salazar  de  Mendoza, 
Monarquia,  tom.  i.  fol.  337. — It  is  easy  to 
discern  in  every  part  of  the  odious  scheme 
of  the  Inquisition,  the  contrivance  of  the 
monks,  a class  of  men,  cut  off  by  their 
profession  from  the  usual  sympathies  of 
social  life,  and  who,  accustomed  to  the 
tyranny  of  the  confessional,  aimed  at  es- 
tablishing the  same  jurisdiction  over 
thoughts,  which  secular  tribunals  have 
wisely  confined  to  actions.  Time,  instead 
of  softening,  gave  increased  harshness  to 
the  features  of  the  new  system.  The 
most  humane  provisions  were  constantly 
evaded  in  practice  ; and  the  toils  for  en- 
snaring the  victim  were  so  ingeniously 
multiplied,  that  few,  very  few,  were  per- 
mitted to  escape  without  some  censure. 
Not  more  than  one  person,  says  Llorente, 
in  one  or  perhaps  two  thousand  processes, 
previous  to  the  time  of  Philip  III.,  re- 
ceived entire  absolution.  So  that  it  came 
to  be  proverbial  that  all  who  were  not 
roasted,  were  at  least  singed. 


452 


PART  I.— THE  INQUISITION. 


[CH.  VII. 


“ Devant  l’lnquisition,  quand  on  vient  a jub6, 

Si  Ton  ne  sort  roti,  l’on  sort  au  moins  flamb6.” 

47  Montanus,  Inquisition  of  Spayne,  fol. 
46.— Puigblanch, . Inquisition  Unmasked, 
vol.  i.  cbap.  4. — Every  reader  of  Tacitus 
and  Juvenal  will  remember  how  early  the 
Christians  were  condemned  to  endure  the 
penalty  of  fire.  Perhaps  the  earliest  in- 
stance of  burning  to  death  for  heresy  in 
modern  times  occurred  under  the  reign 
of  Robert  of  France,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eleventh  century.  (Sismondi,  Hist, 
des  Frangais,  tom.  iv.  chap.  4.)  Paramo, 
as  usual,  finds  authority  for  inquisitorial 
autos  da  f e,  where  one  would  least  expect 
it,  in  the  New  Testament.  Among  other 
examples,  he  quotes  the  remark  of  James 
and  John,  who,  when  the  village  of  Sa- 
maria refused  to  admit  Christ  within  its 
walls,  would  have  called  down  fire  from 
heaven  to  consume  its  inhabitants.  ‘ ‘ Lo, 1 7 
says  Paramo,  “fire,  the  punishment  of 
heretics ; for  the  Samaritans  were  the 
heretics  of  those  times.”  (De  Origine  In- 
quisitionis,  lib.  1,  tit.  3,  cap.  5.)  The 
worthy  father  omits  to  add  the  impress- 
ive rebuke  of  our  Saviour  to  his  over- 
zealous  disciples.  “Ye  know  not  what 
manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of.  The  son  of 
man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men’s  lives, 
but  to  save  them.” 

48  Puigblanch,  vol.  i.  chap.  4. — The  in- 
quisitors after  the  celebration  of  an  auto 
da  fe  at  Guadaloupe,  in  1485,  wishing 
probably  to  justify  these  bloody  execu- 
tions in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  who  had 
not  yet  become  familiar  with  them,  so- 
licited a sign  from  the  Virgin  (whose 
shrine  in  that  place  is  noted  all  over 
Spain)  in  testimony  of  her  approbation  < f 
the  Holy  Office.  Their  petition  was  an- 
swered by  such  a profusion  of  miracles, 
that  Dr.  Francis  Sanctius  de  la  Fuente, 
who  acted  as  scribe  on  the  occasion,  be- 
came out  of  breath,  and,  after  recording 
sixty,  gave  up  in  despair,  unable  to  keep 
pace  with  their  marvelous  rapidity.  Pa- 
ramo, De  Origine  Inquisitions,  lib.  2,  tit. 
2,  cap.  3. 

49  San  benito , according  to  Llorente 
(tom.  i.  p.  127,)  is  a corruption  of  saco 
bendito , being  the  name  given  to  the 
dresses  -worn  by  penitents  previously  to 
the  thirteenth  century. 

G0  Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisition,  tom. 
i.  chap.  9,  art.  16. — Puigblanch,  Inquisi- 
tion Unmasked,  vol.  i.  chap.  4. — Voltaire 
remarks  (Essai  sur  les  Moeurs,  chap.  140,) 
that,  “An  Asiatic,  arriving  at  Madrid  on 
the  day  of  an  auto  da  fe,  would  doubt 


whether  it  were  a festival,  religious  cele- 
bration, sacrifice,  or  massacre; — it  is  all 
of  them.  They  reproach  Montezuma 
with  sacrificing  human  captives  to  the 
Gods. — What  would  he  have  said,  had  he 
witnessed  an  auto  da  fe?  ” 

51  The  government,  at  least,  cannot  be 
charged  with  remissness  in  promoting 
this.  I find  two  ordinances  in  the  royal 
collection  of  pragmdticas,  dated  in  Sep- 
tember, 1501,  (there  must  be  some  error 
in  the  date  of  one  of  them,)  inhibiting, 
under  pain  of  confiscation  of  property, 
such  as  had  been  reconciled , and  their 
children  by  the  mother’s  side,  and  grand- 
children by  the  father’s,  from  holding 
any  office  in  the  privy  council,  courts  of 
justice,  or  in  the  municipalities,  or  any 
other  place  of  trust  or  honor.  They  were 
also  excluded  from  the  vocations  of 
notaries,  surgeons,  and  apothecaries. 
(Pragmdticas  del  Reyno,  fol.  5,  6.)  This 
was  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers,  to  an 
extent  unparalleled  in  modern  legisla- 
tion. The  sovereigns  might  find  a prece- 
dent in  a law  of  Sylla,  excluding  the  chil- 
dren of  the  proscribed  Romans  from  po- 
litical honors;  thus  indignantly  noticed 
by  Sallust.  “Quin  solus  omnium,  post 
memoriam  liominum,  supplicia  in  post 
futuros  composuit;  quts  prius  injuria 
qudm  vita  certa  esset.”  Hist.  Fragmen- 
ta,  lib.  1. 

C2  The  Aragonese,  as  we  shall  see  here- 
after, made  a manly,  though  ineffectual 
resistance,  from  the  first,  to  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Inquisition  among  them 
by  Ferdinand.  In  Castile,  its  enormous 
abuses  provoked  the  spirited  interposi- 
tion of  the  legislature  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  following  reign.  But  it  was 
then  too  late. 

63  1485-6.  (Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisi- 
tion,  tom.  i.  p.  239.)— In  Seville,  with  prob- 
ably no  greater  apparatus,  in  1482,  21,000 
processes  were  disposed  of.  These  were 
the  first  fruits  of  the  Jewish  heresy,  when 
Torquemada,  although  an  inquisitor,  had 
not  the  supreme  control  of  the  tribunal. 

54  Llorente  afterwards  reduces  this  es- 
timate to  8,800  burnt,  96,504  otherwise 
punished;  the  diocese  of  Cuenga  being 
comprehended  in  that  of  Murcia.  (Tom. 
iv.  p.  252.)  Zurita  says,  that,  by  1520,  the 
Inquisition  of  Seville  had  sentenced  more 
than  4,000  persons  to  be  burnt,  and  30,000 
to  other  punishments.  Another  author 
whom  he  quotes,  carries  up  the  estimate 
of  the  total  condemned  by  this  single  tri- 


CH.  Vlll.] 


PART  I. — THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


453 


bunal,  within  the  same  term  of  time,  to 
100,000.  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  324. 

55  By  an  article  of  the  primitive  in- 
structions, the  inquisitors  were  required 
to  set  apart  a small  portion  of  the  con- 
fiscated estates  for  the  education  and 
Christian  nurture  of  minors,  children  of 
the  condemned.  Llorente  says,  that,  in 
the  immense  number  of  processes,  which 
he  had  occasion  to  consult,  he  met  with 
no  instance  of  their  attention  to  the  fate 
of  these  unfortunate  orphans!  Hist,  de 
F Inquisition,  tom.  i.  chap.  8. 

66  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  44. — 
Torquemada  waged  war  upon  free- 
dom of  thought,  in  every  form.  In  1490, 
he  caused  several  Hebrew  bibles  to  be 
publicly  burnt,  and  some  time  after, 
more  than  0,000  volumes  of  Oriental 
learning,  on  the  imputation  of  Judaism, 
sorcery,  or  heresy,  at  the  autos  de  fe  of 
Salamanca,  the  very  nursery  of  science. 
(Llorente,  Hist,  de  Plnquisition,  tom.  i. 
chap.  8,  art.  5.)  This  may  remind  one  of 
the  similar  sentence  passed  by  Lope  de 
Barrientos,  another  Dominican,  about 
fifty  years  before,  upon  the  books  of  the 
marquis  of  Videna.  Fortunately  for  the 
dawning  literature  of  Spain,  Isabella  did 
not,  as  was  done  by  her  successors,  com- 
mit the  censorship  of  the  press  to  the 
judges  of  the  Holy  Office,  notwithstand- 
ing such  occasional  assumption  of  power 
by  the  grand  inquisitor. 

67  Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  part.  2, 
cap.  77. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables, 
fol.  164. — The  prodigious  desolation  of 
the  land  may  be  inferred  from  the  esti- 
mates, although  somewhat  discordant,  of 
deserted  houses  in  Andalusia.  Garibay 
(Compendio,  lib.  18,  cap.  17,)  puts  these  at 
three,  Pulgar  (Reyes  Catolicos,  part.  2, 
cap.  77,)  at  four,  L.  Marineo  (Cosas  Me- 
morables, fol.  164,)  as  high  as  five  thou- 
sand. 

38  Llorente,  Hist,  de  Plnquisition,  tom. 
i.  chap.  7,  art.  8;  chap.  8,  art.  6. 

59  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Vetus, 
tom.  ii.  p.  340. — Llorente,  Hist,  de  Plnqui- 
sition, tom.  i.  chap.  8,  art.  6. 

00  “Per  la  f& — il  tutto  lice.”  Gerusa- 
lemme  Liberata,  cant.  4,  stanza  26. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  VIII. 

1 See  Introduction,  Section  1,  Note  2, 
of  this  History. 

2 The  Koran,  in  addition  to  the  repeat- 
ed assurances  of  Paradise  to  the  martyr 
who  falls  in  battle,  contains  the  regula- 


tions of  a precise  military  code.  Military 
service  in  some  shape  or  other  is  exacted 
from  all.  The  terms  to  be  prescribed  to 
the  enemy  and  the  vanquished,  the  di- 
vision of  the  spoil,  the  seasons  of  lawful 
truce,  the  conditions  on  which  the  com- 
paratively small  number  of  exempts  are 
permitted  to  remain  at  home,  are  ac- 
curately defined.  (Sale’s  Koran,  chap.  2, 
8,  9,  et  alibi.)  When  the  algilied , or  Ma- 
hometan crusade,  which,  in  its  general 
design  and  immunities,  bore  a close  re- 
semblance to  the  Christian,  was  preached 
in  the  mosque,  every  true  believer  was 
bound  to  repair  to  the  standard  of  his 
chief  “ The  holy  war,”  says  one  of  the 
early  Saracen  generals,  “is  the  ladder  of 
Paradise.  The  Apostle  of  God  styled 
himself  the  son  of  the  sword.  He  loved 
to  repose  in  the  shadow  of  banners  and 
on  the  field  of  battle. 

3 The  successors,  caliphs  or  vicars,  as 
they  were  styled,  of  Mahomet,  represent- 
ed both  his  spiritual  and  temporal  au- 
thority. Their  office  involved  almost 
equally  ecclesiastical  and  military  func- 
tions. It  was  their  duty  to  lead  the  army 
in  battle,  and  on  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca. 
They  were  to  preach  a sermon,  and  offer 
up  public  prayers  in  the  mosques  every 
Friday.  Many  of  their  prerogatives  re- 
semble those  assumed  anciently  by  the 
popes.  They  conferred  investitures  on 
the  Moslem  princes  by  the  symbol  of  a 
ring,  a sword,  or  a standard.  They  com- 
plimented them  with  the  titles  of  “de- 
fender of  the  faith,”  “column  of  relig- 
ion,” and  the  like.  The  proudest  poten- 
tate held  the  bridle  of  their  mules,  and 
paid  his  homage  by  touching  their  thres- 
hold with  his  forehead.  The  authority  of 
the  caliphs  was  in  this  manner  founded 
on  opinion  no  less  than  on  power ; and 
their  ordinances,  however  frivolous  or 
iniquitous  in  themselves,  being  enforced, 
as  it  were,  by  a divine  sanction,  became 
laws  which  it  was  sacrilege  to  disobey. 
See  D’Herbelot,  Biblioth^que  Orientale, 
(La  Haye,  1777-9,)  voce  Khalifah. 

4 The  character  of  the  Arabs,  before 
the  introduction  of  Islam,  like  that  of 
most  rude  nations,  is  to  be  gathered 
from  their  national  songs  and  romances, 
The  poems  suspended  at  Mecca,  familiar 
to  us  in  the  elegant  version  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Jones,  and  still  more,  the  recent 
translation  of  “Antar,”  a composition 
indeed  of  the  age  of  A1  Raschid,  but 
wholly  devoted  to  the  primitive  Bedouins, 
present  us  with  a lively  picture  of  their 


454 


PART  I.— THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


|CH.  VIII. 


peculiar  habits,  which,  notwithstanding 
the  influence  of  a temporary  civilization, 
may  be  thought  to  bear  great  resem- 
blance to  those  of  their  descendants  at 
the  present  day. 

6  Startling  as  it  may  be,  there  is  scarce- 
ly a vestige  of  any  of  the  particulars, 
circumstantially  narrated  by  the  na- 
tional historians  (Mariana,  Zurita,  Abar- 
ca,  Moret,  &c.)  as  the  immediate  causes 
of  the  supervision  of  Spain,  to  be  found 
in  the  chronicles  of  the  period.  No  inti- 
mation of  the  persecution,  or  of  the 
treason,  of  the  two  sons  of  Witiza  is  to  be 
met  with  in  any  Spanish  writer,  as  far  as 
I know,  until  nearly  two  centuries  after 
the  conquest;  none  earlier  than  this,  of 
the  defection  of  archbishop  Oppas,  dur- 
ing the  fatal  conflict  near  Xerez;  and 
none,  of  the  tragical  amours  of  Roderic 
and  the  revenge  of  count  Julian,  before 
the  writers  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
Nothing  indeed  can  be  more  jejune  than 
the  original  narratives  of  the  invasion. 
The  continuation  of  the  Chronicon  del 
Biclarense,  and  the  Chronicon  de  Isidoro 
Pacense  or  de  Beja,  which  are  contained 
in  the  voluminous  collection  of  Florez, 
(Espafia  Sagrada,  tom.  vi.  and  viii.) 
afford  the  only  histories  contemporary 
with  the  event.  Conde  is  mistaken  in 
his  assertion  (Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
Prol.  p.  vii.),  that  the  work  of  Isidore  de 
Beja  was  the  only  narrative  written  dur- 
ing that  period.  Spain  had  not  the  pen 
of  a Bede  or  an  Eginhart  to  describe  the 
memorable  catastrophe.  But  the  few 
and  meagre  touches  of  the  contemporary 
chroniclers  have  left  ample  scope  for 
conjectural  history,  which  has  been  most 
industriously  improved. 

The  reports,  according  to  Conde,  (Do- 
minacion de  los  Arabes,  tom.  i.  p.  36,) 
greedily  circulated  among  the  Saracens, 
of  the  magnificence  and  general  pros- 
perity of  the  Gothic  monarchy,  may  suf- 
ficiently account  for  its  invasion  by  an 
enemy  flushed  with  uninterrupted  con- 
quests, and  whose  fanatical  ambition 
was  well  illustrated  by  one  of  their  own 
generals,  wrho,  on  reaching  the  western 
extremity  of  Africa,  plunged  his  horse 
into  the  Atlantic,  and  sighed  for  other 
shores  on  which  to  plant  the  banners 
of  Islam.  See  Cardonne,  Histoire  de 
TAfrique  et  de  l’Espagne  sous  la  Domi- 
nation des  Arabes,  (Paris,  1765,)  tom.  i.  p. 
37. 

6 The  laborious  diligence  of  Masdeu 
may  be  thought  to  have  settled  the  epoch, 


about  which  so  much  learned  dust  has 
been  raised.  The  fourteenth  volume  of 
his  “Historia  Critica  de  Espaiia  y de  la 
Cultura  Espafiola  (Madrid,  1783-1805,) 
contains  an  accurate  table,  by  which  the 
minutest  details  of  the  Mahometan  lunar 
year  are  adjusted  by  those  of  the  Chris- 
tian era.  The  fall  of  Roderic  on  the 
field  of  battle  is  attested  by  both  the 
domestic  chroniclers  of  that  period,  as 
wrell  as  by  the  Saracens.  (Incerti  Auc- 
toris  Additio  ad  Joannem  Biclarensem, 
apud  Florez,  Espana  Sagrada,  tom.  vi.  p. 
430.— Isidori  Pacensis  Episcopi  Chroni- 
con, apud  Florez,  Espana  Sagrada,  tom. 
viii.  p.  290.)  The  tales  of  the  ivory  and 
marble  chariot,  of  the  gallant  steed  Orelia 
and  magnificent  vestments  of  Roderic, 
discovered  after  the  fight  on  the  banks  of 
the  Guadalete,  of  his  probable  escape 
and  subsequent  seclusion  among  the 
mountains  of  Portugal,  which  have  been 
thought  worthy  of  Spanish  history,  have 
found  a much  more  appropriate  place  in 
their  romantic  national  ballads,-  as  well 
as  in  the  more  elaborate  productions  of 
Scott  and  Southey. 

7 “Whatever  curses,”  says  an  eyewit- 
ness, wiiose  meagre  diction  is  quickened 
on  this  occasion  into  something  like  sub- 
limity, “ whatever  curses  were  denounced 
by  the  prophets  of  old  against  Jerusalem, 
whatever  fell  upon  ancient  Babylon, 
whatever  miseries  Rome  inflicted  upon 
the  glorious  company  of  the  martyrs,  all 
these  wmre  visited  upon  the  once  hap- 
py and  prosperous,  but  now  desolated 
Spain.”  Pacensis  Chronicon  apud  Flo- 
rez, Espana  Sagrada,  tom.  viii.  p.  292. 

8 The  frequency  of  this  alliance  may  be 
inferred  from  an  extraordinary,  though, 
doubtless,  extravagant  statement  cited 
by  Zurita.  The  ambassadors  of  James 
II.,  of  Aragon,  in  1311,  represented  to  the 
sovereign  pontiff,  Clement  V.,  that,  of 
the  200,000  souls,  which  then  composed 
the  population  of  Granada,  there  were 
not  more  than  500  of  pure  Moorish  de- 
scent. Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  314. 

9 The  famous  persecutions  of  Cordova 
under  the  reigns  of  Abderrahman  II.  and 
his  son,  which,  to  judge  from  the  tone  of 
Castilian  writers,  might  vie  with  those  of 
Nero  and  Diocletian,  are  admitted  by 
Morales  (Obras,  tom.  x.  p.  74,)  to  have 
occasioned  the  destruction  of  only  forty 
individuals.  Most  of  these  unhappy 
fanatics  solicited  the  crown  of  martyr- 
dom, by  an  open  violation  of  the  Mahom- 
etan lawrs  and  usages.  The  details  are 


ClI.  VIII.] 


PART  I. —THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


455 


given  by  Florez,  in  the  tenth  volume  of 
his  collection. 

10  Bleda,  Coronica  de  los  Moros  de  Es- 
pana,  (Valencia,  1618,)  lib.  2,  cap.  16, 17.— 
Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne, 
tom.  i.  pp.  83  et  seq.r179.— Conde,  Domi- 
nacion  de  los  Arabes,  Prol.,  p.  vii.  and 
tom.  i.  pp.  29-54,  75,  87.— Morales,  Obras, 
tom.  vi.  pp.  407-417;  tom.  vii.  pp.  262-264. 
— Florez,  Espana  Sagrada,  tom.  x.  pp. 
237-270.— Fuero  Juzgo,  Int.  p.  40. 

11  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
part.  2,  cap.  1-46. 

12  Ibid,  ubi  supra.— Masdeu,  Historia 
Critica,  tom.  xiii.  pp.  178,  187. 

13  The  same  taste  is  noticed  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  by  a traveller,  whose  pictures 
glow  with  the  warm  colors  of  the  east. 
k*  Aussi  des  que  vous  approchez,  en  Europe 
ou  en  Asie,  d’une  terre  possed^e  par  les 
Musulmans,  vous  la  reconnaissez  de  loin 
au  ri^he  et  sombre  voile  de  verdure  qui 
llotte  gracieusement  sur  elle: — des  arbres 
pour  s’asseoir  a leur  ombre,  des  fontaines 
jaillissantes  pour  rever  a leur  bruit,  du 
silence  et  des  mosqudes  aux  legers  rhina- 
rets,  s’Mevant  & chaque  pas  du  sein  d’une 
terre  pieuse.”  Lamartine,  Voyage  en 
Orient,  tome  i.  p.  172. 

14  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  i.  pp.  199,  235,  284,  285,  417,  446,  447, 
et  alibi. — Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et 
d'Espagne,  tom.  i.  pp.  227-230  et  seq. 

15  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  i.  pp.  211,  212, 22G.— Swinburne,  Trav- 
els through  Spain,  (London,  1787,)  let.  33. 
— Xerif  Aledris,  conocido  por  El  Nubi- 
ense,  Descripcion  de  Espafia,  con  Traduc- 
cion  y Notas  de  Conde,  (Madrid,  1799,) 
pp.  161,  162.— Morales,  Obras,  tom.  x.  p. 
Cl.— Chenier,  Recherches  Historiques  sur 
les  Maures,  et  Histoire  de  l’Empire  de 
Maroc,  (Paris,  H87,)  tom.  ii.  p.  312. 

16  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  i.  pp.  214,  228,  270,  611.— Masdeu, 
Historia  Critica,  tom.  xiii.  p.  118.— Car- 
donne, Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne, 
tom.  i.  pp.  338-343.— Casiri  quotes  from 
an  Arabic  historian  the  conditions  on 
which  Abderrahman  I.  proffered  his  al- 
liance to  the  Christian  princes  of  Spain, 
viz.  the  annual  tribute  of  10,000  ounces 
of  gold,  10,000  pounds  of  silver,  10,000 
horses,  &c.  &c.  The  absurdity  of  this 
story,  inconsiderately  repeated  by  his- 
torians, if  any  argument  were  necessary 
to  prove  it,  becomes  sufficiently  manifest 
from  the  fact,  that  the  instrument  is 
dated  in  the  142d  year  of  the  Hegira,  be- 
ing a little  more  than  fifty  years  after  the 


conquest.  See  Bibliotheca  Arabico-His- 
pana  Escurialensis,  (Matriti,  1760,)  tom. 
ii.  p.  104. 

17  Hist.  Naturalis,  lib.  33,  cap.  4. 

18  Introduction  a l’Histoire  Naturelle 
de  l’Espagne,  traduite  par  Flavigny, 
(Paris,  1776,)  p.  411. 

19  See  a sensible  essay  by  the  Abbe 
Correa  de  Serra  on  the  husbandry  of  the 
Spanish  Arabs,  contained  in  tom.  i.  of 
Archives  Litteraires  de  l’Europe,  (Paris, 
1804.) — Masdeu,  Historia  Critica,  tom.  xiii. 
pp.  115,  117, 127, 131. — Conde,  Dominacion 
de  los  Arabes,  tom.  i.  cap.  44. —Casiri, 
Bibliotheca  Escurialensis,  tom.  i.  p.  838. 

An  absurd  story  has  been  transcribed 
from  Cardonne,  with  little  hesitation,  by 
almost  every  succeeding  writer  upon 
this  subject.  According  to  him,  (Hist. 
d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  i.  p.  338,) 
“the  banks  of  the  Guadalquivir  were 
lined  with  no  less  than  twelve  thousand 
villages  and  hamlets.”  The  length  of 
the  river,  not  exceeding  three  hundred 
miles,  would  scarcely  afford  room  for  the 
same  number  of  farm-houses.  Conde’s 
version  of  the  Arabic  passage  represents 
twelve  thousand  hamlets,  farms,  and 
castles,  to  have  “ been  scattered  over  the 
regions  watered  by  the  Guadalquivir”  ; 
indicating  by  this  indefinite  statement 
nothing  more  than  the  extreme  popu- 
lousness of  the  province  of  Andalusia. 

20  Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Escurialensis, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  38,  202. — Conde,  Dominacion 
de  los  Arabes,  part.  2,  cap.  88. 

21  Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana, 
(Roma,  1782-97,)  tom.  iii.  p.  231.— Turner, 
History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  (London, 
1820,)  vol.  iii.  p.  137.— Andres,  Dell’  Ori- 
gine,  de’  Progressi  e dello  Stato  Attuale 
d’  Ogni  Letteratura,  (Venezia,  1783,)  part. 
1,  cap.  8,  9.— Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Escuria- 
lensis, tom.  ii.  p.  149. — Masdeu,  Historia 
Critica,  tom.  xiii.  pp.  165,  171.— Conde, 
Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  part.  2,  cap. 
93. — Among  the  accomplished  females  of 
this  period,  Valadata,  the  daughter  of  the 
caliph  Mahomet,  is  celebrated  as  having 
frequently  carried  away  the  palm  of  elo- 
quence in  her  discussions  with  the  most 
learned  academicians.  Others  again, 
with  an  intrepidity  that  might  shame  the 
degeneracy  of  a modern  blue , plunged 
boldly  into  the  studies  of  philosophy, 
history,  and  jurisprudence. 

22  Garibay,  Compendio,  lib.  39,  cap.  3. 

23  Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  20,  cap.  42. 

24  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorabies,  fol. 
169. 


456 


PART  I. — THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


[CH.  VIII. 


25  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  ii.  p.  147.— Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Es- 
curialensis,  tom.  ii.  pp.  248  et  seq. — Pe- 
draza,  Antiguedad  y Excelencias  de 
Granada,  (Madrid,  1G08,)  lib.  1.— Pedraza 
has  collected  the  various  etymologies  of 
the  "term  Granada,  which  some  writers 
have  traced  to  the  fact  of  the  city  having 
been  the  spot  where  the  pomegranate  was 
first  introduced  from  Africa;  others  to 
the  large  quantity  of  grain  in  which  its 
vega  abounded;  others  again  to  the  re- 
semblance which  the  city,  divided  into 
two  hills  thickly  sprinkled  writh  houses, 
bore  to  a half-opened  pomegranate. 
(Lib.  2,  cap.  17.)  The  arms  of  the  city, 
which  were  in  part  composed  of  a pome- 
granate, would  seem  to  favor  the  deriva- 
tion of  its  name  from  that  of  the  fruit. 

2B  Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Granada, 
fol.  101.— Denina,  Delle  Rivoluzioni  d’lta- 
lia,  (Venezia,  1816,)  Capmany  y Mont- 
palau,  Memorias  Historicas  sobre  la  Ma- 
rina, Comercio,  y Artes  de  Barcelona, 
(Madrid,  1779-92,)  tom.  iii.  p.  218;  tom.  iv. 
pp.  67  et  seq. — Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  26. — The  ambassa- 
dor of  the  emperor  Frederic  IH.,  on  his 
passage  to  the  court  of  Lisbon  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  fifteenth  century,  contrasts  the 
superior  cultivation,  as  well  as  general 
civilization,  of  Granada  at  this  period 
with  that  of  the  other  countries  of  Eu- 
rope through  which  he  had  travelled. 
Sismondi,  Histoire  des  Republiques  Ital- 
iennes  du  Moyen-Age,  (Paris,  1813,)  tom. 
ix.  p.  405. 

27  Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Escurialensis, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  250-258.— The  fifth  volume  of 
the  royal  Spanish  Academy  of  History 
contains  an  erudite  essay  by  Conde  on 
Arabic  money,  principally  with  reference 
to  that  coined  in  Spain ; pp.  225-315. 

28  A specification  of  a royal  donative 
in  that  day  may  serve  to  show  the  mar- 
tial spirit  of  the  age.  In  one  of  these, 
made  by  the  king  of  Granada  to  the  Cas- 
tilian sovereign,  we  find  twenty  noble 
steeds  of  the  royal  stud,  reared  on  the 
banks  of  the  Xenil,  with  superb  capari- 
sons, and  the  same  number  of  scimitars 
richly  garnished  with  gold  and  jewels; 
and,  in  another,  mixed  up  with  perfumes 
and  cloth  of  gold,  we  meet  with  a litter  of 
tame  lions.  (Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  tom.  iii.  pp.  163,  183.)  This  latter 
symbol  of  royalty  appears  to  have  been 
deemed  peculiarly  appropriate  to  the 
kings  of  Leon.  Ferreras  informs  us  that 
the  ambassadors  from  France  at  the  Cas- 


tilian court,  in  1434,  were  received  by  John 
II. , with  a full  grown  domesticated  lion 
crouching  at  his  feet.  (Hist.  d’Espagne, 
tom.  vi.  p.  401.)  The  same  taste  appears 
still  to  exist  in  Turkey.  Dr.  Clarke,  in 
his  visit  to  Constantinople,  met  with  one 
of  these  terrific  pets,  who  used  to  follow 
his  master,  Hassan  Pacha,  about  like  a 
dog. 

29  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  28.— Henriquez  del  Castillo 
(Cronica,  cap.  138,)  gives  an  account  of 
an  intended  duel  between  two  Castilian 
nobles,  in  the  presence  of  the  king  of 
Granada,  as  late  as  1470.  One  of  the  par- 
ties, Don  Alfonso  de  Aguilar,  failing  to 
keep  his  engagement,  the  other  rode 
round  the  lists  in  triumph,  with  his  ad- 
versary's portrait  contemptuously  fast- 
ened to  the  tail  of  his  horse. 

30  It  must  be  admitted,  that  these  bal- 
lads, as  far  as  facts  are  concerned,  are 
too  inexact  to  furnish  other  than  a very 
slippery[f  oundation  for  history.  The  most 
beautiful  portion  perhaps  of  the  Moor 
ish  ballads,  for  example,  is  taken  up  with 
the  feuds  of  the  Abencerrages  in  the  latter 
days  of  Granada.  Yet  this  family,  whose 
romantic  story  is  still  repeated  to  the 
traveller  amid  the  ruins  of  the  Alhambra, 
is  scarcely  noticed,  as  far  as  I am  aware, 
by  contemporary  writers,  foreign  or  do- 
mestic, and  would  seem  to  owe  its  chief 
celebrity  to  the  apocryphal  version  of  Gi- 
nes  Perez  de  Hyta,  whose  “ Milesian 
tales,”  according  to  the  severe  sentence 
of  Nic.  Antonio,  “ are  fit  only  to  amuse 
the  lazy  and  the  listless.”  (Bibliotheca 
Nova,  tom.  i.  p.  536.) 

But  although  the  Spanish  ballads  are  not 
entitled  to  the  credit  of  strict  historical 
documents,  they  may  yet  perhaps  be  re- 
ceived in  evidence  of  the  prevailing  char- 
acter of  the  social  relations  of  the  age;  a 
remark  indeed  predicable  of  most  works 
of  fiction,  written  by  authors  contempo- 
rary with  the  events  they  describe,  and 
more  especially  so  of  that  popular  min- 
strelsy, which,  emanating  from  a simple, 
uncorrupted  class,  is  less  likely  to  swerve 
from  truth,  than  more  ostentatious  works 
of  art.  The  long  cohabitation  of  the  Sara- 
cens with  the  Christians,  (full  evidence  of 
which  is  afforded  by  Capmany,  (Mem.  de 
Barcelona,  tom.  iv.  Apend.  no.  11,)  who 
quotes  a document  from  the  public  ar- 
chives of  Catalonia,  showing  the  great 
number  of  Saracens  residing  in  Aragon 
even  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies, the  most  flourishing  period  of  the 


CH.  VIII.  J 


PART  I. — THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


45? 


Granadian  empire,)  had  enabled  many  of 
them  confessedly  to  speak  and  write  the 
Spanish  language  with  purity  and  ele- 
gance. Some  of  the  graceful  little  songs, 
which  are  still  chanted  by  the  peasantry 
of  Spain  in  their  dances,  to  the  accompa- 
niment of  the  castanet,  are  referred  by  a 
competent  critic  (Conde,  De  la  Poesia  Ori- 
ental, MS.)  to  an  Arabian  origin.  There 
can  be  little  hazard,  therefore,  in  im- 
puting much  of  this  peculiar  minstrelsy 
to  the  Arabians  themselves,  the  contem- 
poraries, and  perhaps  the  eyewitnesses  of 
the  events  they  celebrate. 

31  Casiri  (Bibliotheca  Escurialensis, 
tom.  ii.  p.  259,)  has  transcribed  a passage 
from  an  Arabian  author  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  inveighing  bitterly  against  the 
luxury  of  the  Moorish  ladies,  their  gor- 
geous apparel  and  habits  of  expense, 
“ amounting  almost  to  insanity,”  in  a tone 
which  may  remind  one  of  the  similar 
philippic  by  his  contemporary  Dante, 
against  his  fair  countrywomen  of  Flor- 
ence.—Two  ordinances  of  a king  of  Gra- 
nada, cited  by  Conde  in  his  History,  pre- 
scribe the  separation  of  the  women  from 
the  men  in  the  mosques;  and  prohibit 
their  attendance  on  certain  festivals,  with- 
out the  protection  of  their  husbands  or 
some  near  relative. — Their  femmes  sa- 
vantes,  as  we  have  seen,  were  in  the  habit 
of  conferring  freely  with  men  of  letters, 
and  of  assisting  in  person  at  the  academ- 
ical stances.  —And  lastly,  the  frescoes  al- 
luded to  in  the  text  represent  the  presence 
of  females  at  the  tournaments,  and  the 
fortunate  knight  receiving  the  palm  of 
victory  from  their  hands. 

32  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  i.  p.  349;  tom.  iii.  p.  119. 

33  Casiri,  on  Arabian  authority,  com- 
putes it  at  200,009  men.  Bibliotheca  Es- 
curialensis, tom.  i.  p.  338. 

34  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  250. 

35  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
p.  169.— These  ruined  fortifications  still 
thickly  stud  the  border  territories  of 
Granada;  and  many  an  Andalusian  mill, 
along  the  banks  of  the  Guadayra  and 

/Guadalquivir,  retains  its  battlemented 
tower,  which  served  for  the  defence  of 
its  inmates  against  the  forays  of  the 
enemy. 

30  D’Herbelot,  (Bib  Orientale,  tom.  i. 
p.  630,)  among  other  authentic  traditions 
of  Mahomet,  quotes  one  as  indicating  his 
encouragement  of  letters,  viz.  “ That  the 
ink  of  the  doctors  and  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  are  of  equal  price.”  M.  (Eisner 


(Des  Effets  de  la  Religion  de  Moham- 
med, Paris,  1810,)  has  cited  several  others 
of  the  same  liberal  import.  But  such 
traditions  cannot  be  received  in  evidence 
of  the  original  doctrine  of  the  prophet. 
They  are  rejected  as  apocryphal  by  the 
Persians  and  the  whole  sect  of  the  Shiites 
and  are  entitled  to  little  weight  with  a 
European. 

37  When  the  caliph  A1  Mamon  en- 
couraged, by  his  example  as  well  as  pat- 
ronage, a more  enlightened  policy,  he 
was  accused  by  the  more  orthodox  Mus- 
sulmans of  attempting  to  subvert  the 
principles  of  their  religion.  See  Pococke, 
Spec.  Hist.  Arabum,  (Oxon.  1650,)  p. 
166. 

38  Andres,  Letteratura,  part.  1,  cap.  8, 

10.  — Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Escurialensis, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  71,  251,  et  passim. 

39  Casiri  mentions  one  of  these  universal 
geniuses,  who  published  no  less  than  a 
thousand  and  fifty  treatises  on  the  vari- 
ous topics  of  Ethics,  History,  Law,  Medi- 
cine, &c.  1 Bibliotheca  Escurialensis, 
tom.  ii.  p.  107.— See  also  tom.  i.  p.  370; 
tom.  ii.  p.  71  et  alibi.— Zuniga,  Annales 
de  Sevilla,  p.  22.— D’Herbelot,  Bib.  Ori- 
entale, voce  Tarikh . — Masdeu,  Historia 
Critica,  tom.  xiii.  pp.  203,  205.— Andres, 
Letteratura,  part.  1,  cap.  8. 

40  Consult  the  sensible,  though  perhaps 
severe,  remarks  of  Degerando  on  Arabian 
science.  (Hist,  de  la  Philosophie,  tom. 
iv.  cap.  24.)— The  reader  may  also  peruse 
with  advantage  a disquisition  on- Arabian 
metaphysics  in  Turner's  History  of  Eng- 
land, (vol.  iv.  pp.  405-449.— Brucker,  Hist. 
Philosophise,  tom.  iii.  p.  105.) — Ludovicus 
Vives  seems  to  have  been  the  author  of 
the  imputation  in  the  text.  (Nic.  An- 
tonio, Bibliotheca  Vetus,  tom.  ii.  p.  394.) 
Averroes  translated  some  of  the  phi- 
losophical works  of  Aristotle  from  the 
Greek  into  Arabic;  a Latin  version  of 
which  translation  was  afterwards  made. 
Though  D’Herbelotis  mistaken  (Bib.  Ori- 
entale, art.  Roschd ,)  in  saying  that  Aver 
roes  was  the  first  who  translated  Aris- 
totle into  Arabic ; as  this  had  been  done 
two  centuries  before,  at  least,  by  Honain 
and  others  in  the  ninth  century,  (see 
Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Escurialensis,  tom.  i. 
p.  304,)  and  Bayle  has  shown  that  a Latin 
version  of  the  Stagirite  was  used  by  the 
Europeans  before  the  alleged  period. 
See  art.  Averroes. 

41  Sprengel,  Histoire  de  la  M^decine, 
traduite  par  Jourdan,  (Paris,  1815,)  tom, 

11.  pp.  263  et  seq. 


458 


PART  I.— THE  SPANISH  ARABS. 


Lch.  VIII. 


42  Degerando,  Hist,  de  la  Philosophic, 
tom.  iv.  ubi  supra. 

43  Bibliotheca  Escurialensis,  tom.  ii.  p. 
9.— Andres,  Letteratura,  part.  1,  cap.  10. 

44  Letteratura  Italiana,  tom.  v.  p.  87. 

45  The  battle  of  Crecy  furnishes  the 
earliest  instance  on  record  of  the  use  of 
artillery  by  the  European  Christians;  al- 
though Du  Cange,  among  several  exam- 
ples which  he  enumerates,  has  traced  a 
distinct  notice  of  its  existence  as  far 
back  as  1333.  (Glossarium  ad  Scriptores 
Mediae  et  Infimas  Latinitatis,  (Paris,  1730,) 
and  Supplement,  (Paris,  1766,)  voce  Bom- 
bar  da.)  The  history  of  the  Spanish 
Arabs  carries  it  to  a much  earlier  period. 
It  was  employed  by  the  Moorish  king  of 
Granada  at  the  siege  of  Baza,  in  1312  and 
1325.  (Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  18.— Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Es- 
curialensis, tom.  ii.  p.  7.)  It  is  distinctly 
noticed  in  an  Arabian  treatise  as  ancient 
as  1249;  and,  finally,  Casiri  quotes  a pas- 
sage from  a Spanish  author  at  the  close 
of  the  eleventh  century,  (whose  MS.,  ac 
cording  to  Nic.  Antonio,  though  familiar 
to  scholars,  lies  still  entombed  in  the 
dust  of  libraries,)  which  describes  the 
use  of  artillery  in  a naval  engagement  of 
that  period  between  the  Moors  of  Tunis 
and  of  Seville.  Casiri,  Bibliotheca  Es- 
curialensis, tom.  ii.  p.  8.— Nic.  Antonio, 
Bibliotheca  Vetus,  tom.  ii.  p.  12. 

43  Petrarch  complains  in  one  of  his  let 
ters  from  the  country,  that  “ jurisconsults 
and  divines,  nay  his  own  valet,  had  taker* 
to  rhyming;  and  he  was  afraid  the  very 
cattle  might  begin  to  low  in  verse;  ” apud 
De  Sade,  Memoires  pour  La  Vie  de  Pe 
trarque,  tom.  iii.  p.  243. 

47  Andres,  Letteratura,  part.  1,  cap.  11. 
—-Yet  this  popular  assertion  is  contradict- 
ed by  Reinesius,  who  states,  that  both 
Homer  and  Pindar  were  translated  into 
Arabic  by  the  middle  of  the  eighth  centu- 
ry. See  Fabricius,  Bibliotheca  Grseca, 
(Hamb.  1712-38,)  tom.  xii.  p.  753. 

48  Sir  William  Jones,  Traite  sur  la  Poe- 
sie  Orientale/sec.  2.— Sismondi  says  that 
Sir  W.  Jones  is  mistaken  in  citing  the 
history  of  Timour  by  Ebn  Arabschah,  as 
an  Arabic  epic.  (Litterature  du  Midi, 
tom.  i.  p.  57.)  It  is  Sismondi  who  is  mis- 
taken, since  the  English  critic  states  that 
the  Arabs  have  no  heroic  poem,  and  that 
this  poetical  prose  history  is  not  ac- 
counted such  even  by  the  Arabs  them- 
selves. 

49  It  would  require  much  more  learn- 
ing than  I am  fortified  with,  to  enter  into 


the  merits  of  the  question,  which  has 
been  raised  respecting  the  probable  in- 
fluence of  the  Arabian  on  the  literature 
of  Europe.  A W.  Schlegel,  in  a work  of 
little  bulk,  but  much  value,  in  refuting 
with  his  usual  vivacity,  the  extravagant 
theory  of  Andres,  has  been  led  to  conclu- 
sions of  an  opposite  nature,  which  may 
be  thought  perhaps  scarcely  less  extrava- 
gant. (Observations  sur  la  Langue  et  la 
Litterature  Provengales,  p.  64.)  It  must 
indeed  seem  highly  improbable,  that  the 
Saracens,  who,  during  the  middle  ages, 
were  so  far  superior  in  science  and  liter- 
ary culture  to  the  Europeans,  could  have 
resided  so  long  in  immediate  contact  with 
them,  and  in  those  very  countries  indeed 
which  gave  birth  to  the  most  cultivated 
poetry  of  that  period,  without  exerting 
some  perceptible  influence  upon  it.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  its  influence  on  the  Cas- 
tilian cannot  reasonably  be  disputed. 
This  has  been  briefly  traced  by  Conde  in 
an  “Essay  on  Oriental  Poetry,”  Poes-ia- 
Oriental , whose  publication  he  antici 
pates  in  the  Preface  to  his  “ History  of  the 
Spanish  Arabs,”  but  which  still  remains 
in  manuscript.  (The  copy  I have  used  is 
in  the  library  of  Mr.  George  Ticknor.) 
He  professes  in  this  work  to  discern  in 
the  earlier  Castilian  poetry,  in  the  Cid, 
the  Alexander,  in  Bereeo’s,  the  arch 
priest  of  Hita’s,  and  others  of  similar  an- 
tiquity, most  of  the  peculiarities  and  va- 
rieties of  Arabian  verse;  the  same  ca- 
dences and  number  of  syllables,  the  same 
intermixture  of  assonances  and  conso- 
nances, the  double  hemistich  and  pro- 
longed repetition  of  the  final  rhyme. 
From  the  same  source  he  derives  much 
of  the  earlier  rural  minstrelsy  of  Spain, 
as  well  as  the  measures  of  its  romances 
and  seguidillas;  and  in  the  Preface  to 
his  History,  he  has  ventured  on  the  bold 
assertion,  that  the  Castilian  owes  so  much 
of  its  vocabulary  to  the  Arabic,  that  it 
may  be  almost  accounted  a dialect  of  the 
latter.  Conde’s  criticisms,  however, 
must  be  quoted  with  reserve.  His  habit- 
ual studies  had  given  him  such  a keen 
relish  for  oriental  literature,  that  he  was, 
in  a manner,  denaturalized  from  his 
own. 

so  Byron’s  beautiful  line  may  seem  al- 
most a version  of  Conde’s  Spanish  text, 
“ sucesos  de  arinas  y de  amores  con  muy 
estranos  lances  y en  elegante  estilo.” — 
Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom.  i.  p.  457. 

61  Sismondi,  in  his  Litterature  du  Midi 
(tom.  i.  pp.  267  et  seq.),  and  more  fully 


CH.  IX.] 


PART  I.— -WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


459 


in  his  R^publiques  Italiennes  (tom.  xvi. 
pp.  448  et  seq.),  derives  the  jealousy  of 
the  sex,  the  ideas  of  honor,  and  the 
deadly  spirit  of  revenge,  which  distin- 
guished the  southern  nations  of  Europe 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries, 
from  the  Arabians . Whatever  be  thought 
of  the  jealousy  of  the  sex,  it  might  have 
been  supposed,  that  the  principles  of 
honor  and  the  spirit  of  revenge  might, 
without  seeking  further,  find  abundant 
precedent  in  the  feudal  habits  and  insti- 
tutions of  our  European  ancestors. 

52  “ Quas  perversiones  potius,  quam 
versiones  meritd  dixeris.”  Bibliotheca 
Eseurialensis,  tom.  i.  p.  266. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  IX. 

1 Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Es- 
pagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  467-469.— Conde,  Domi- 
nacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  32,  34. 

2 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
51.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  31.—  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos. 
p.  180.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables, 
fol.  171.—  Marmol,  Historia  del  Rebelion 
y Castigo  de  los  Moriscos,  (Madrid,  1797,) 
lib.  1,  cap.  12. 

Lebrija  states,  that  the  revenues  of 
Granada,  at  the  commencement  of  this 
war,  amounted  to  a million  of  gold  duc- 
ats, and  that  it  kept  in  pay  7,000  horse- 
men on  its  peace  establishment,  and 
could  send  forth  21 ,000  warriors  from  its 
gates.  The  last  of  these  estimates  would 
not  seem  to  be  exaggerated.  Rerum 
Gestarum  Decades,  ii,  lib.  1,  cap.  1. 

3 Estrada,  Poblacion  de  Espana,  tom. 
ii.  pp.  247,  248.— El  Nubiense,  Descripcion 
de  Espana,  p.  222,  nota. — Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catdlicos,  p.  181.— Marmol,  Rebelion  de 
Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  12. 

4 Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  pp.  319, 
362. 

This  occurred  in  the  fight  of  Madrorio, 
when  Don  Rodrigo  stooping  to  adjust 
his  buckler,  which  had  been  unlaced, 
was  suddenly  surrounded  by  a party  of 
Moors.  He  snatched  a sling  from  one 
of  them,  and  made  such  brisk  use  of  it, 
that,  after  disabling  several,  he  succeed- 
ed in  putting  them  to  flight;  for  which 
feat,  says  Zuniga,  the  king  complimented 
him  with  the  title  of  “the  youthful 
David.” 

Don  Juan,  count  of  Arcos,  had  no  chil- 
dren born  in  wedlock,  but  a numerous 
progeny  by  his  concubines.  Among 
these  latter,  was  Dona  Leonora  Nunez 


de  Prado,  the  mother  of  Don  Rodrigo. 
The  brilliant  and  attractive  qualities  of 
this  youth  so  far  won  the  affections  of 
his  father,  that  the  latter  obtained  the 
royal  sanction  (a  circumstance  not  in- 
frequent in  an  age,  when  the  laws  of 
descent  were  very  unsettled,)  to  bequeath 
him  his  titles  and  estates,  to  the  preju- 
dice of  more  legitimate  heirs. 

6  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
52.  — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
171.— Pulgar  computes  the  marquis's 
army  at  3,000  horse  and  4,000  foot. 
Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  181.— Conde,  Domina- 
cion de  los  Arabes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  34. 

6 Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades, 
ii.  lib.  1,  cap.  2.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS., 
ano  1482. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Caolicos, 
MS.,  cap.  52.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol. 
315. — Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Es- 
pagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  252,  253. 

7 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  ubi 
supra.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Ara- 
bes, cap.  34.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memora- 
bles, fol.  172. 

8 Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
ubi  sup.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  pp. 
182,  183.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom. 
ii.  pp.  545,  546. 

9 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
52.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  sup.- 
Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne, 
tom.  iii.  p.  254. 

10  “ Passeavase  el  Rey  Moro 

Por  la  ciudad  de  Granada, 

Desde  las  puertas  de  Elvira 
Hasta  las  de  Bivarambla. 

Ay  de  mi  Alhama ! 

“ Cartas  le  fueron  venidas 
Que  Alhama  era  ganada. 

Las  cartas  echo  en  el  fuego, 

Y al  mensagero  matava. 

Ay  de  mi  Alhama ! 

“ Hombres,  ninos  y mugeres, 

Lloran  tan  grande  perdida. 
Lloravan  todas  las  damas 
Quantas  en  Granada  avia. 

Ay  de  mi  Alhama ! 

“ Por  las  calles  y ventanas 
Mucho  luto  parecia; 

Llora  el  Rey  como  fembra, 

Qu’  es  mucho  lo  que  perdia. 

Ay  de  mi  Alhama!  ” 

The  romance , according  to  Hyta,  (not 
the  best  voucher  for  a fact,)  caused  such 
general  lamentation,  that  it  was  not  al- 
lowed to  be  sung  by  the  Moors  after  the 
conquest.  (Guerras  Civiles  de  Granada, 
tom.  i.  p.  350.)  Lord  Byron,  as  the 


460 


PART  I. — WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


[CII.  X. 


reader  recollects,  has  done  this  ballad 
into  English.  The  version  has  the  merit 
of  fidelity.  It  is  not  his  fault  if  his  Muse 
appears  to  little  advantage  in  the  plebe- 
ian dress  of  the  Moorish  minstrel. 

1 1 L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
172.—  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  31.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS., 
ano  1482.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espaiia, 
tom.  ii.  pp.  545,  546. 

12  Bernaidez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  52. — Bernaidez  swells  the  Moslem 
army  to  5,504  horse,  and  80,000  foot,  but 
I have  preferred  the  more  moderate  and 
probable  estimate  of  the  Arabian  authors. 
Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom. 
iii.  cap.  31.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  loc. 
cit. 

13  Garibav,  Compendio,  tom.  ii.  lib.  18, 
cap.  23.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  pp. 
183,  184. 

14  Bernaidez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  52. 

15  Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  360.— 
L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  24, 
172.— Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades, 
lib.  1,  cap.  3. 

16  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  pp.  183,  184. 
Bernaidez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  53 
— Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  vii.  p. 
572.— Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  pp.  392, 
393.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Es- 
pagne, tom.  iii.  p.  257. 

17  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  pp  183-186. 
—Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  28. 

18  Bernaidez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
53,  54.— Pulgar  states  that  Ferdinand  took 
the  more  southern  route  of  Antequera, 
where  he  received  the  tidings  of  the 
Moorish  king’s  retreat.  The  discrepancy 
is  of  no  great  consequence;  but  as  Ber 
naldez,  whom  I have  followed,  lived  in 
Andalusia,  the  theatre  of  action,  he  may 
be  supposed  to  have  had  more  accurate 
means  of  information.  Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  pp.  187, 188. 

19  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  28. -Bernaidez,  Reyes  Ca- 
tblicos,  MS.,  cap.  54,  55.— Lebrija,  Rerum 
Gestarum  Decades,  lib.  1,  cap.  6.— Conde, 
Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  cap.  34.— Sa- 
lazar de  Mendoza,  Cr6n.  del  Gran  Carde- 
nal,  pp.  180,  181.— Marmol,  Rebelion  de 
Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  12. 

During  this  second  siege,  a body  of 
Moorish  knights  to  the  number  of  forty, 
succeeded  in  scaling  the  walls  of  the  city 
in  the  night,  and  had  nearly  reached  the 
gates  with  the  intention  of  throwing  them 


open  to  their  countrymen,  when  they 
were  overpowered,  after  a desperate  re- 
sistance, by  the  Christians,  who  acquired 
a rich  booty,  as  many  of  them  were  per- 
sons of  rank.  There  is  considerable  vari- 
ation in  the  authorities,  in  regard  to  the 
date  of  Ferdinand’s  occupation  of  Alha- 
ma.  I have  been  guided,  as  before,  by 
Bernaidez. 

20  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  pp.  188,  189. 

PART  I. — CHAPTER  X. 

1 Estrada,  Poblacion  de  Espana,  tom, 

ii.  pp.  242,  243.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv. 
fol.  317.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et 
d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  p.  261. 

2 Bernaidez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
58.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii. 
pp.  249,  250.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique 
et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  259,  260. 

3 L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
173.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  187.— 
Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  316,  317. 

4 Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Ordenes, 
fol.  80,  81.— L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memora- 
bles, fol.  173.— Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum 
Decades,  ii.  lib.  1,  cap.  7.— Conde,  Domi- 
nacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom.  iii.  p.  214.— 
Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1482. 

5 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  pp.  189-191 . — 
Bernaidez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  58. 
—Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom. 

iii.  pp.  214-217.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Af- 
rique et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  260,  261. 

6 Bernaidez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
58.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  pp.  214-217. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Ca- 
tolicos ubi  supra.— Lebrija,  Rerum  Gesta- 
rum Decades,  ii.  lib.  1,  cap.  7.— The  Pena 
de  los  Enamorados  received  its  name 
from  a tragical  incident  in  Moorish  his- 
tory. A Christian  slave  succeeded  in  in- 
spiring the  daughter  of  his  master,  a 
wealthy  Mussulman  of  Granada,  with  a 
passion  for  himself.  The  two  lovers, 
after  some  time,  fearful  of  the  detection 
of  their  intrigue,  resolved  to  make  their 
escape  into  the  Spanish  territory.  Be- 
fore they  could  effect  their  purpose,  how- 
ever, they  were  hotly  pursued  by  the 
damsel’s  father  at  the  head  of  a party  of 
Moorish  horsemen,  and  overtaken  near  a 
precipice  which  rises  between  Archidona 
and  Antequera.  The  unfortunate  fugi- 
tives, who  had  scrambled  to  the  summit 
of  the  rocks,  finding  all  further  escape 
impracticable,  after  tenderly  embracing 
each  other,  threw  themselves  headlong 
from  the  dizzy  heights,  preferring  this 


CH.  X.] 


PART  I. — WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


461 


dreadful  death  to  falling  into  the  hands 
of  their  vindictive  pursuers.  The  spot 
consecrated  as  the  scene  of  this  tragic  in- 
cident has  received  the  name  of  Rock  of 
the  Lovers.  The  legend  is  prettily  told 
by  Mariana,  (Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  pp. 
253,  254,)  who  concludes  with  the  pithy  re- 
llection,  that  “ such  constancy  would 
have  been  truly  admirable  had  it  been 
shown  in  defence  of  the  true  faith.,  rather 
than  in  the  gratification  of  lawless  appe- 
tite.” 

'•  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  pp.  214-217. — Cardonne,  Hist. 
d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  2G2, 
263. — Mar  mol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib. 
1,  cap.  12.— Bernaldez  states  that  great 
umbrage  was  taken  at  the  influence 
which  the  king  of  Granada  allowed  a 
person  of  Christian  lineage,  named  Vene- 
gas, to  exercise  over  him.  Pulgar  hints 
at  the  bloody  massacre  of  the  Abencer- 
rages,  which,  without  any  better  author- 
ity that  I know  of,  forms  the  burden  of 
many  an  ancient  ballad,  and  has  lost 
nothing  of  its  romantic  coloring  under 
the  hand  of  Gines  Perez  de  Hyta. 

8  Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Es- 
pagne,  ubi  supra.— Conde,  Dominacion  de 
los  Arabes,  ubi  sup. 

Boabdil  was  surnamed  “el  Chico,”  the 
Little , by  the  Spanish  writers,  to  distin- 
guish him  from  an  uncle  of  the  same 
name;  and  “el  Zogoybi,”  the  Unfortu- 
nate, by  the  Moors,  indicating  that  he 
was  the  last  of  his  race  destined  to  wear 
the  diadem  of  Granada.  The  Arabs,  with 
great  felicity,  frequently  select  names 
significant  of  some  quality  in  the  objects 
they  represent.  Examples  of  this  may 
be  readily  found  in  the  southern  regions 
of  the  Peninsula,  where  the  Moors  lin- 
gered the  longest.  The  etymology  of 
Gibraltar,  Gebal  Tarik,  Mount  of  Tarik, 
is  well  known.  Thus,  Algeziras  comes 
from  an  Arabic  word  which  signifies  an 
island;  Alpuxarras  comes  from  a term 
signifying  herbage  or  pasturage ; Arre- 
cife  from  another,  signifying  causeway 
or  high  road , etc.  The  Arabic  word  wcid 
stands  for  river.  This  without  much  vi- 
olence has  been  changed  into  guad , and 
enters  into  the  names  of  many  of  the 
southern  streams;  for  example,  Guadal- 
quivir, great  river . Guadiana,  narrow  or 
little  river , Guadalete,  &c.  In  the  same 
manner  the  term  Medina,  Arabic^, 
“city,”  has  been  retained  as  a prefix  to 
the  names  of  many  of  the  Spanish  towns, 
as  Medina  Celi,  Medina  del  Campo,  &c. 


See  Conde’s  notes  to  El  Nubiense,  De- 
scripcion  de  Espana,  passim. 

9 Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron,  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  p.  181.— Pulgar,  Claros  Va- 
rones,  tit.  20.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano 
1483.— Aleson,  Annales  de  Navarra,  tom. 
v.  p.  11,  ed.  1766. — Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  epist.  158. 

10  Fred.  Marslaar,  De  Leg.  2, 11.— M.  de 
Wicquefort  derives  the  word  ambassa- 
deur  (anciently  in  English  embassador) 
from  the  Spanish  word  em.biar , “ to 
send.”  See  Rights  of  Embassadors, 
translated  by  Digby,  (London,  1740,)  book 
1,  chap.  1. 

11  Sismondi,  Republiques  Italiennes, 
tom.  xi.  cap.  88.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos, 
pp.  195-198.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol. 
218. 

12  Aleson,  Annales  de  Navarra,  lib.  34, 
cap.  1. — Histoire  du  Royaume  de  Na- 
varre, p.  558. 

Leonora’s  son,  Gaston  de  Foix,  prince 
of  Viana,  was  slain  by  an  accidental 
wound  from  a lance,  at  a tourney  at  Lis- 
bon, in  1469.  By  the  princess  Magde- 
leine,  his  wife,  sister  of  Louis  XI.,  he 
left  two  children,  a son  and  daughter, 
each  of  whom  in  turn  succeeded  to  the 
crown  of  Navarre.  Francis  Phoebus’  as- 
cended the  throne  on  the  demise  of  his 
grandmother  Leonora,  in  1479.  He  was 
distinguished  by  his  personal  graces  and 
beauty,  and  especially  by  the  golden 
lustre  of  his  hair  from  which,  according 
to  Aleson,  he  derived  his  cognomen  of 
Phoebus.  As  it  was  an  ancestral  name, 
however,  such  an  etymology  may  be 
thoughfrsomewhat  fanciful. 

13  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  had  at  this 
time  four  children;  the  infant  Don  John, 
four  years  and  a half  old,  but  who  did 
not  live  to  come  to  the  succession,  and 
the  infantas  Isabella,  Joanna,  and  Maria; 
the  last,  born  at  Cordova  during  the 
summer  of  1482. 

14  Aleson,  Annales  de  Navarra,  lib.  34, 
cap.  2;  lib.  35,  cap.  1.— Histoire  du  Roy- 
aume de  Navarre,  pp.  578,  579.— La  Cl&de, 
Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iii.  pp.  438-441. — 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  p.  199.— Mariana, 
Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  p.  551. 

15  Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades, 
ii.  lib.  2,  cap.  1. 

Besides  the  armada  in  the  Mediterra- 
nean, a fleet  under  Pedro  de  Vera  was 
prosecuting  a voyage  of  discovery  and 
conquest  to  the  Canaries  at  this  time. 

16  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  199.— 
Mariana,  tom.  ii.  p.  551.— Coieccion  de 


462 


PART  I. — WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


CMdulas  y Otros  Documentos,  (Madrid,  | 
1829,)  tom.  iii.  no.  25. 

For  this  important  collection,  a few 
copies  of  which,  only,  were  printed  for  | 
distribution,  at  the  expense  of  the  Span- 
ish government,  I am  indebted  to  the  po- 
liteness of  Don  A.  Calderon  de  la  Barca. 

17  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  58. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  202. 

Juan  de  Corral  imposed  on  the  king  of 
Granada  by  means  of  certain  credentials, 
which  he  had  obtained  from  the  Spanish 
sovereigns  without  any  privity  on  their 
X)art  to  his  fraudulent  intentions.  The 
story  is  told  in  a very  blind  manner  by 
Pulgar. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  mention  here  a 
doughty  feat  performed  by  another  Cas- 
tilian envoy,  of  much  higher  rank,  Don 
Juan  de  Vera.  This  knight,  while  con- 
versing with  certiin  Moorish  cavaliers  in 
the  Alhambra,  was  so  much  scandalized 
by  the  freedom  with  which  one  of  them 
treated  the  immaculate  conception,  that 
he  gave  the  circumcised  dog  the  lie,  and 
smote  him  a sharp  blow  on  the  head  with 
his  sword.  Ferdinand,  says  Bernaldez, 
who  tells  the  story,  was  much  gratified 
with  the  exploit,  and  recompensed  the 
good  knight  with  many  honors. 

18  The  adalid  was  a guide,  or  scout, 
whose  business  it  was  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  enemy’s  country,  and 
to  guide  the  invaders  into  it.  Much  dis- 
pute has  arisen  respecting  the  authority 
and  functions  of  this  officer.  Some 
writers  regard  him  as  an  independent 
leader,  or  commander;  and  the  Diction-  | 
ary  of  the  Academy  defines  thfe  term 
adalid  by  these  very  w'ords.  The  Siete 
Partidas,  however,  explains  at  length  the 
peculiar  duties  of  this  officer,  conforma- 
bly to  the  account  I have  given.  (Ed.  de 
la  Real  Acad.  (Madrid,  1807,)  part  2,  tit. 
2,  leyes  1^.)  Bernaldez,  Pulgar,  and  the 
other  chroniclers  of  the  Granadine  war, 
repeatedly  notice  him  in  this  connexion. 
When  he  is  spoken  of  as  a captain,  or 
leader,  as  he  sometimes  is  in  these  and 
other  ancient  records,  his  authority,  I 
suspect,  is  intended  to  be  limited  to  the 
persons,  who  aided  him  in  the  execution 
of  his  peculiar  office.— It  was  common 
for  the  great  chiefs,  who  lived  on  the 
borders,  to  maintain  in  their  pay  a num- 
ber of  these  adalides,  to  inform  them  of 
the  fitting  time  and  place  for  making 
a foray.  The  post,  as  may  well  be  be- 
lieved, was  one  of  great  trust  and  per- 
sonal hazard. 


[CH.  X. 

19  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  203. — L. 
Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  173. — 
Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  320. 

20  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  36.— Lebrija,  Rerum  Ges- 
tarum  Decades,  ii.  lib.  2,  cap.  2. 

The  title  of  adelantado  implies  in  its 
etymology  one  preferred  or  placed  be- 
fore others.  The  office  is  of  great  an- 
tiquity; some  have  derived  it  from  the 
reign  of  St.  Ferdinand  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  but  Mendoza  proves  its  existence 
at  a far  earlier  period.  The  adelantado 
was  possessed  of  very  extensive  judicial 
authority  in  the  province  or  district  in 
which  he  presided,  and  in  war  was  in- 
vested with  supreme  military  command. 
His  functions,  however,  as  well  as  the 
territories  over  which  he  ruled,  have 
varied  at  different  periods.  An  adelan- 
tado seems  to  have  been  generally  es- 
tablished over  a border  province,  as 
Andalusia  for  example.  Marina  discusses 
the  civil  authority  of  this  officer,  in  his 
Teoria,  tom.  ii.  cap.  23.  See  also  Salazar 
de  Mendoza,  Dignidades,  lib.  2,  cap.  15. 

21  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
60.—  Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Ordenes, 
fol.  71.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  320. 
—Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  fol.  395.— 
Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades,  ii. 
lib.  2,  cap.  2.— Oviedo,  Quincuagenas, 
MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  36. 

22  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  p.  217.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Af- 
rique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  264-267.— 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  60. 

23  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  p.  217.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
p.  204.— Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Or- 
denes, fol.  71,  72. 

24  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii. 
pp.  552,  553.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  p. 
205.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  321. 

25  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  205.— 
Garibay,  Compendio,  tom.  ii.  p.  C36. 

26  Bernaldez,  Reyes  CatOlicos,  MS., 
cap.  60. — Pulgar,  Reyes  CatOlicos,  ubi 
supra.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et 
d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  264-267. 

27  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  p.  206.— 
Rades  y Andrada,  Las  Tres  Ordenes,  fol. 
71,  72. 

28  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  loc.  cit.— 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  60. 

29  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  p.  206. 

Mr.  Irving,  in  his  “ Conquest  of  Gra- 
nada,” states  that  the  scene  of  the  great- 
est slaughter  in  this  rout  is  still  known 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Axarquia  by 


CH.  XI.] 


PART  I. — WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


463 


the  name  of  La  Cuesta  de  la  Matanza , 
or  “ The  Hill  of  the  Massacre.” 

30  Oviedo,  who  devotes  one  of  his  dia- 
logues to  this  nobleman,  says  of  him, 
“ Fue  una  de  las  buenas  lanzas  de  nues- 
tra  Espana  en  su  tiempo ; y muy  sabio  y 
prudente  caballero.  Hallose  en  grandes 
cargos  y negocios  de  paz  y de  guerra.” 
Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial. 
30. 

31  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  p.  218. — Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv. 
fol.  321. — Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,ano  1483. 
— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra. — 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  GO. 
— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Es- 
pagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  266,  267. — The  count, 
according  to  Oviedo,  remained  a long 
while  a prisoner  in  Granada,  until  he  was 
ransomed  by  the  payment  of  several 
thousand  doblas  of  gold.  Quincuage- 
nas, MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial  36. 

32  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS., 
cap.  60. — Marmol  says  that  three  brothers 
and  two  nephews  of  the  marquis,  whose 
names  he  gives,  were  all  slain.  Rebel- 
ion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  12. 

33  Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  fol.  395. 
—Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  ubi 
supra. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  206.— 
Oviedo,  Quincuagenas.  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc. 
1,  dial.  36.— Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moris- 
cos, lib.  1,  cap.  12. 

34  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  60. 

Pulgar  has  devoted  a large  space  to 

the  unfortunate  expedition  to  the  Axar- 
quia.  His  intimacy  with  the  principal 
persons  of  the  court,  enabled  him,  no 
doubt,  to  verify  most  of  the  particulars 
which  he  records.  The  Curate  of  Los 
Palacios,  from  the  proximity  of  his  resi- 
dence to  the  theatre  of  action,  may  be 
supposed  also  to  have  had  ample  means 
for  obtaining  the  requisite  information. 
Yet  their  several  accounts,  although  not 
strictly  contradictory,  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  reconcile  with  one  another.  The 
narratives  of  complex  military  operations 
are  not  likely  to  be  simplified  under  the 
hands  of  monkish  bookmen.  I have  en- 
deavored to  make  out  a connected  tissue 
from  a comparison  of  the  Moslem  with 
the  Castilian  authorities.  But  here  the 
meagreness  of  the  Moslem  annals  com- 
pels us  to  lament  the  premature  death  of 
Conde.  It  can  hardly  be  expected,  in- 
deed, that  the  Moors  should  have  dwelt 
with  much  amplification  on  this  humili- 
ating period.  But  there  can  be  little 
doubt,  that  far  more  copious  memorials 


of  theirs  than  any  now  published,  exist 
in  the  Spanish  libraries;  and  it  were 
much  to  be  wished  that  some  oriental 
scholar  would  supply  Conde’s  deficiency, 
by  exploring  these  authentic  records  of 
what  may  be  deemed,  as  far  as  Christian 
Spain  is  concerned,  the  most  glorious 
portion  of  her  history. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  XI. 

1  “ Por  esa  puerte  de  Elvira 
sale  muy  gran  cabalgada: 
cudnto  del  hidalgo  moro> 
cu&nto  de  la  yegua  baya. 

“ Cudnta  pluma  y gentileza, 
cu&nto  capellar  de  grana, 
cuanto  bayo  borceguf, 
cu&nto  raso  que  se  esmalta, 

“ Cudnto  de  espuela  de  oro, 
cuanta  estribera  de  plata ! 

Toda  es  gente  valerosa, 
y esperta  para  batalla. 

“ En  medio  de  todos  ellos 
va  el  rey  Chico  de  Granada, 
mirando  las  damas  moras 
de  las  torres  del  Alhambra. 

‘ 1 La  reina  mora  su  madre 
de  esta  manera  le  habla: 

‘ Ala  te  guarde,  mi  hijo, 

Mahoma  vaya  en  tu  guarda.’  ” 

Hyta,  Guerras  de  Granada, 
tom.  i.  p.  232. 

2 Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  36.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Af- 
rique et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  267- 
271.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS., 
cap.  60.— Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Gra- 
nada, fol.  10. — Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moris- 
cos, lib.  1,  cap.  12. 

3 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  part.  3,  cap. 

20. 

The  donzele-s,  of  which  Diego  de  Cor- 
dova was  alcayde,  or  captain,  were  a 
body  of  young  cavaliers,  originally 
brought  up  as  pages  in  the  royal  house- 
hold, and  organized  as  a separate  corps 
of  the  militia.  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Dig- 
nidades,  p.  259.  -See  also  Morales,  Obras, 
tom,  xiv.  p.  80. 

4 Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  36. — Abarca,  Reyes  de  Ara- 
gon, tom.  ii.  fol.  302.— Carbajal,  Anales, 
MS.,  ano  1483.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catoli- 
cos, MS.,  cap.  61.— Pulgar,  Crdnica,  cap. 
20.— Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1, 
cap.  12. 


464 


PART  I.— WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


[CH.  XI. 


5 Garibay,  Compendio,  tom.  ii.  p.  637.— 
Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra.— Ber- 
naldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  61.— 
Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom. 
iii.  cap.  36.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique 
et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  271-274. 

The  various  details,  even  to  the  site  of 
the  battle,  are  told  in  the  usual  confused 
and  contradictory  manner  by  the  garru- 
lous chroniclers  of  the  period.  All  au- 
thorities, however,  both  Christian  and 
Moorish,  agree  as  to  its  general  results. 

6 Mendoza,  Dignidades,  p.  382.— Oviedo, 
Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  4,  dial. 
9. 

7 Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  [iii.  cap.  36.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Af- 
rique et  d’Espagne,  pp.  271-274. 

8 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap.  23.— 
Marmol,  Rebelionde  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap. 
12. 

Charles  V.  does  not  seem  to  have  par- 
taken of  his  grandfather’s  delicacy  in 
regard  to  an  interview  with  his  royal 
captive,  or  indeed  to  any  part  of  his  de- 
portment towards  him. 

9 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra.— 
Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  cap. 
36. 

10  Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  loc.  cit.— 
Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  cap. 
36. 

11  The  term  cavalgada  seems  to  be 
used  indifferently  by  the  ancient  Spanish 
writers  to  represent  a marauding  party, 
the  foray  itself,  or  the  booty  taken  in  it. 

12  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  22. — 
Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust. 
6. 

13  Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  cap.  32,  41. 
— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  lib.  20,  cap.  59. 
—Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades,  ii. 
lib.  3,  cap.  5. 

14  Machiavelli,  Arte  della  Guerra,  lib.  3. 

15  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
Ilust.  6. 

According  to  Gibbon,  the  cannon  used 
by  Mahomet  in  the  siege  of  Constantino- 
ple, about  thirty  years  before  this  time, 
threw  stone  balls,  which  weighed  above 
630  pounds.  The  measure  of  the  bore 
was  twelve  palms.  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  chap.  68. 

16  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
Ilust.  6. 

We  get  a more  precise  notion  of  the 
awkwardness  with  which  the  artillery 
was  served  in  the  infancy  of  the  science, 
from  a fact  recorded  in  the  Chronicle  of 
John  II.,  that,  at  the  siege  of  Setenil,  in 


1407,  five  lombards  were  able  to  discharge 
only  forty  shot  in  the  course  of  a day. 
We  have  witnessed  an  invention,  in  our 
time,  that  of  our  ingenious  countryman, 
Jacob  Perkins,  by  which  a gun,  with  the 
aid  of  that  miracle-worker,  steam,  is  en- 
abled to  throw  a thousand  bullets  in  a 
single  minute. 

17  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
174.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat&licos,  cap.  44. 

Some  writers,  as  the  Abbe  Mignot,  (His- 
toire  des  Rois  Catholiques  Ferdinand  et 
Isabelle,  (Paris,  1766,)  tom.  i.  p.  273,) 
have  referred  the  invention  of  bombs  to 
the  siege  of  Ronda.  I find  no  authority 
for  this.  Pulgar’s  words  are,  “They 
made  many  iron  balls,  large  and  small, 
some  of  which  they  cast  in  a mould,  hav- 
ing reduced  the  iron  to  a state  Of  fu- 
sion, so  that  it  would  run  like  any  other 
metal.” 

18  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  51.— 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  82. 

19  Mendoza,  Guerra  de  Granada,  (Va- 
lencia, 1776,)  pp.  73,  74.— Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  iv.  lib.  20,  cap.  59.— Mem.  de  la  Acad, 
de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  p.  168. 

According  to  Mendoza,  a decoction  of 
the  quince  furnished  the  most  effectual 
antidote  known  against  this  poison. 

20  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii. 
fol.  304. — Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  De- 
cades, ii.  lib.  4,  cap.  2.— Bernaldez,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  76.— Marmol,  Rebel- 
ion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  12. 

Pulgar,  who  is  by  no  means  bigoted  for 
the  age,  seems  to  think  the  liberal  terms 
granted  by  Ferdinand  to  the  enemies  of 
the  faith  stand  in  need  of  perpetual 
apology.  See  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap.  44  et 
passim. 

21  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap. 
75.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  21,  33, 
42. — Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades, 
ii.  lib.  8,  cap.  6. — Marmol,  Rebelion  de 
Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  13. 

22  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
Ilust.  6. 

23  Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades, 
ii.  lib.  3,  cap.  6.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos, 
cap.  31. 

24  After  another  daring  achievement, 
the  sovereigns  granted  him  and  his  heirs 
the  royal  suit  worn  by  the  monarchs  of 
Castile  on  Ladyday;  a present,  says 
Abarca,  not  to  be  estimated  by  its  cost. 
Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  fol.  303. 

26  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  ubi  supra. 
—Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.  lib.  1,  epist. 
41.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS., 


CH.  XI.  J 


PART  I. — WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


465 


cap.  68.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  cap. 
58. 

26  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  31,  67, 
69.— Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades, 
ii.  lib.  2,  cap.  10. 

27  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  21. 

28  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  1, 
epist.  62. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
MS.,  cap.  78. 

29  Guillaume  de  Ialigny,  Histoire  de 
Charles  VIII.,  (Paris,  1617,)  pp.  90-94. 

30  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 

75.-  This  city,  even  before  the  New 
World  had  poured  its  treasures  into  its 
lap,  was  conspicuous  for  its  magnificence, 
as  the  ancient  proverb  testifies.  Zuniga, 

Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  183. 

31  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  41. 

32  p^gar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  59.— 
This  nobleman,  whose  name  was  Inigo 
Lopez  de  Mendoza,  was  son  of  the  first 
duke,  Diego  Hurtado,  who  supported  Isa- 
bella’s claims  to  the  crown.  Oviedo  was 
X^resent  at  the  siege  of  Illora,  and  gives 
a minute  discription  of  his  appearance 
there.  “ He  came,”  says  that  writer, 
“ attended  by  a numerous  body  of  cav- 
aliers and  gentlemen,  as  befitted  so  great 
a lord.  He  displayed  all  the  luxuries 
which  belong  to  a time  of  peace ; and  his 
tables,  which  were  carefully  served,  were 
loaded  with  rich  and  curiously  wrought 
plate,  of  which  he  had  a greater  profusion 
than  any  other  grandee  in  the  kingdom.” 
In  another  place  he  says,  “ The  duke  Inigo 
was  a perfect  Alexander  for  his  liberality, 
in  all  his  actions  princely,  maintaining 
unbounded  hospitality  among  his  numer- 
ous vassals  and  dependents,  and  beloved 
throughout  Spain.  His  palaces  were  gar- 
nished with  the  most  costly  tapestries, 
jewels,  and  rich  stuffs  of  gold  and  silver. 
His  chapel  was  filled  with  accomplished 
singers  and  musicians;  his  falcons, 
hounds,  and  his  whole  hunting  establish- 
ment, including  a magnificent  stud  of 
horses,  not  to  be  matched  by  any  other 
nobleman  in  the  kingdom.  Of  the  truth 
of  all  which,”  concludes  Oviedo,  “ I 
myself  have  been  an  eyewitness,  and 
enough  others  can  testify.”  See  Oviedo, 
(Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial. 
8,)  who  has  given  the  genealogy  of  the 
MendozasandMendozinos,  in  all  its  end- 
less ramifications. 

33  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  80.— The  lively  author  of  “ A Year 
in  Spain  ” describes  among  other  suits  of 
armor  still  to  be  seen  in  the  museum  of 
the  armory  at  Madrid,  those  worn  by 


Ferdinand  and  his  illustrious  consort, 
“ In  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  stations 
is  the  suit  of  armour  usually  worn  by 
Ferdinand  the  Catholic.  He  seems 
snugly  seated  upon  his  war-horse,  with  a 
pair  of  red  velvet  breeches,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Moors,  with  lifted  lance 
and  closed  visor.  There  are  several  suits 
of  Ferdinand  and  of  his  queen  Isabella, 
who  was  no  stranger  to  the  dangers  of  a 
battle.  By  the  comparative  heights  of 
the  armour,  Isabella  would  seem  to  be 
the  bigger  of  the  two,  as  she  certainly 
wras  the  better.”  A Year  in  Spain,  by  a 
young  American,  (Boston,  1829,)  p.  116. 

34  Cardinal  Mendoza,  in  the  campaign 
of  1485,  offered  the  queen  to  raise  a body 
of  3000  horse,  and  march  at  its  head  to 
the  relief  of  Alhama,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  supply  her  with  such  sums  of 
money  as  might  be  necessary  in  the  pres- 
ent exigency.  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
cap.  50. 

36  In  1486,  we  find  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella performing  a pilgrimage  to  the 
shrine  of  St.  James  of  Compostella. 
Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ailo  86. 

36  L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
173.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  82,  87. 

37  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catblicos,  cap.  47.— 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  75. 

38  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  37.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Af- 
rique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  276,  281, 
282.— Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii. 
fol.  304. 

“ El  enjaeza  el  caballo 
De  las  cabezas  de  fama,” 

says  one  of  the  old  Moorish  ballads. 
A garland  of  Christian  heads  seems  to 
have  been  deemed  no  unsuitable  present 
from  a Moslem  knight  to  his  lady  love. 
Thus  one  of  the  Zegries  triumphantly 
asks, 

“iQue  Cristianos  liabeis  muerto, 

O escalado  que  murallas  ? 
iO  que  cabezas  famosas 
Aveis  presentado  a damas  ? ” 

This  sort  of  trophy  was  also  borne  by  the 
Christian  cavaliers.  Examples  of  this 
may  be  found  even  as  late  as  the  siege  of 
Granada.  See,  among  others,  the  ballad 
beginning 

“ A vista  de  los  dos  Reyes.” 

39  The  Arabic  historian  alludes  to  the 
vulgar  report  of  the  old  king’s  assassina- 
tion by  his  brother,  but  leaves  us  in  the 


46G 


PART  I.— INTERNAL  AFFAIRS. 


[CH.  XII. 


dark  in  regard  to  his  own  opinion  of  its 
credibility.  “ Algunos  dicen  que  le  pro- 
cui'o  la  muerte  su  hermano  el  Rey  Za- 
gal  ; pero  %Dios  lo  sabe,  que  es  el  unico 
eterno  e imnutable.”— Conde,  Domina- 
cion  de  los  Arabes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  38. 

40  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  38. — Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Af- 
rique  et  d’Espagne,  pp.  291,  292.— Maria- 
na, Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  25,  cap.  9.— 
Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap. 
12. 

“ Muy  revuelta  anda  Granada 
en  armas  y fuego  rrchendo, 
y los  ciudadanos  de  ella 
duras  muertes  padeciendo  ; 

Por  tres  reyes  que  hay  esquivos, 
cada  uno  pretendiendo 
el  mando,  cetro  y corona 
de  Granada  y su  gobierno,”  &c. 

See  this  old  romance , mixing  up  fact 
and  fiction,  with  more  ol  toe  former  than 
usual,  in  Hyta,  Guerras  de  Granada,  tom. 
i.  p.  292. 

41  Among  other  achievements,  Zagal 
surprised  and  beat  th  j count  of  Cabra  in 
a night  attack  upon  Moclin,  and  weilnigh 
retaliated  on  that  nobleman  his  capture 
of  the  Moorish  ing  Abdallah.  Pulgar, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  :ap.  48. 

42  Bernaldcz,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
7’5.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap.  48  — 
Lebrija,  Re  rum  Gesta^um  Decades,  ii. 
lib.  3,  cap.  5,  7 ; lib.  4,  cap.  2, 3. — Marmol, 
Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  12. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  XII. 

1 Lebrija,  Rerum  Gestarum  Decades, 
iii.  lib.  1,  cap.  10.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catoli- 
cos, part.  3,  cap.  27,  39,  67,  et  alibi.— L. 
Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  175.— 
Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  348. 

2 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  66.— A 
pertinent  example  of  this  occurred,  De- 
cember, 1485,  at  Alcalde  Henares,  where 
the  court  was  detained  during  the  queen’s 
illness,  who  there  gave  birth  to  her 
youngest  child,  Dona  Catalina,  after- 
wards so  celebrated  in  English  history  as 
Catharine  of  Aragon.  A collision  took 
place  in  this  city  between  the  royal 
judges  and  those  of  the  archbishop  of 
Toledo,  to  whose  diocese  it  belonged. 
The  latter  stoutly  maintained  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  church.  The  queen  with 
equal  pertinacity  asserted  the  supremacy 
of  the  royal  jurisdiction  over  every  other 
in  the  kingdom,  secular  or  ecclesiastical. 
The  affair  was  ultimately  referred  to 
the  arbitration  of  certain  learned  men, 


1 named  conjointly  by  the  adverse  parties. 
It  was  not  then  determined,  however, 
and  Pulgar  has  neglected  to  acquaint  us 
with  the  award.  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap. 
53.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1485. 

3 Aleson,  Annales  de  Navarra,  tom.  v. 
lib.  35,  cap.  2. 

4 Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  cap.  52,  67.— 
Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  lib.  25,  cap.  8. 

* Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisition,  tom. 
i.  chap.  6,  art.  2.— Zurita,  Anales,  lib.  20, 
cap.  65. 

At  this  cortes,  convened  at  Taragona, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  experienced  an 
instance  of  the  haughty  spirit  of  their 
Catalan  subjects,  who  refused  to  attend, 
alleging  it  to  be  a violation  of  their  liber- 
ties to  be  summoned  to  a place  without 
the  limits  of  their  principality.  The 
Valencians  also  protested,  that  their 
attendance  should  not  operate  as  a prec- 
edent to  their  prejudice.  It  was  usual 
to  convene  a central  or  general  cortes  at 
Fraga,  or  Monzon,  or  some  town,  which 
the  Catalans,  who  were  peculiarly  jeal- 
ous of  their  privileges,  claimed  to  be 
within  their  territory.  It  was  still  more 
usual,  to  hold  separate  cortes  of  the 
three  kingdoms  simultaneously  in  such 
contiguous  places  in  each,  as  would  per- 
mit the  royal  presence  in  all  during  their 
session.  See  Blancas,  Modo  de  Proceder 
en  Cortes  de  Aragon,  (Zaragoza,  1641,) 
cap.  4. 

8 By  one  of  the  articles  in  the  Privile- 
gium  Generale,  the  Magna  Charta  of 
Aragon,  it  is  declared,  “ Que  turment: 
ni  inquisition;  nosian  en  Aragon  como 
sian  contra  Fuero  el  qual  dize  que  alguna 
pesquisa  no  hauemos:  et  contra  el  privi- 
legio  general,  el  qual  vieda  que  inquisi- 
cion  so  sia  feyta.”  (Fueros  y Observan- 
ces, fol.  11.)  The  tenor  of  this  clause 
(although  the  term  inquisition  must  not 
be  confounded  with  the  name  of  the 
modern  institution)  was  sufficiently  pre- 
cise, one  might  have  thought,  to  secure 
the  Aragonese  from  the  fangs  of  this 
terrible  tribunal. 

7 Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisition,  chap. 
6,  art.  2,  3. 

b Llorente,  ubi  supra.— Paramo,  De 
Origine  Inquisitionis,  pp.  182,  183.— Fer- 
reras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  viii.  pp.  37, 
38. 

9 Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisition,  tom. 
i.  chap.  6,  art.  5.— Blancas,  Aragonenbium 
Rerum  Commentarii,  (Csesaraugustae, 
1588,)  p.  266.  Among  those,  who  after  a 
tedious  imprisonment  were  condemned 


CH.  XIII.] 


PART  I.— WAR  OP  GRANADA. 


467 


to  do  penance  in  an  auto  da  fe,  was  a 
nephew  of  king  Ferdinand,  Don  James 
of  Navarre.  Mariana,  willing  to  point 
the  tale  with  a suitable  moral,  informs 
us,  that,  although  none  of  the  conspira- 
tors were  ever  brought  to  trial,  they  all 
perished  miserably  within  a year,  in 
different  ways,  by  the  judgment  of  God. 
(Hist,  de  Espaiia,  tom.  ii.  p.  368.)  Un- 
fortunately for  the  effect  of  this  moral, 
Llorente,  who  consulted  the  original 
processes,  must  be  received  as  the  better 
authority  of  the  two. 

10  According  to  Paramo,  when  the 
corpse  of  the  inquisitor  was  brought  to 
the  place  where  he  had  been  assassi- 
nated, the  blood,  which  had  been  coag- 
ulated on  the  pavement,  smoked  up 
and  boiled  with  most  miraculous  fervor! 
De  Origine  Inquisitionis,  p.  382. 

1 1 Paramo,  De  Origine  Inquisitionis,  p. 
183.— Llorente,  Hist,  de  lTnquisition, 
chap.  6,  art.  4.  France  and  Italy  also, 
according  to  Llorente,  could  each  boast 
a saint  inquisitor.  Their  renown,  how- 
ever, has  been  eclipsed  by  the  superior 
splendors  of  their  great  master,  St.  Do- 
minic ; 

—“Fils  inconnus  d’un  si  glorieux  p&re.” 

PART  I. — CHAPTER  XIII. 

1 Vedmar,  Antiguedad  y Grandezas  de 
la  Ciudad  de  Velez,  (Granada,  1652,)  fol. 
148.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii. 
lib.  25,  cap.  10.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
part.  iii.  cap.  70.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS., 
ano  1487.— Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  14. 

2 Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Es- 
pagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  292-294. — Pulgar, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra.— Vedmar, 
Antiguedad  de  Velez,  fol.  151. 

3 L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
175.— Vedmar,  Antiguedad  de  Velez,  fol. 
150,  151.— Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos, 
lib.  1,  cap.  14. 

In  commemoration  of  this  event,  the 
city  incorporated  into  its  escutcheon  the 
figure  of  a king  on  horseback,  in  the  act 
of  piercing  a Moor  with  his  javelin.  Ved- 
mar Antiguedad  de  Velez,  fol.  12. 

4 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catblicos,  MS.,  cap. 
52.— Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1, 
cap.  14. 

5 Conde  doubts  whether  the  name  of  Ma- 
laga is  derived  from  the  Greek  /uaXaur/, 
signifying  “agreeable,”  or  the  Arabic 
malka , meaning  “royal.”  Either  ety- 
mology is  sufficiently  pertinent.  (See  El 
Nubiense,  Descripcion  de  Espafia,  p.  186, 


not.)  For  notices  of  sovereigns  who 
swayed  the  sceptre  of  Malaga,  see  Casiri, 
Bibliotheca  Escurialensis,  tom.  ii.  pp.  41, 
56,  99,  et  alibi. 

6 Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  p.  237.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
cap.  74.— El  Nubiense,  Descripcion  de  Es- 
paha,  not.,  p.  144. 

7 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 

82. — Vedmar,  Antiguedad  de  Velez,  fol. 
154.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  74. 

8 This  cavalier,  who  took  a conspicuous 
part  both  in  the  military  and  civil  trans- 
actions of  this  reign,  was  descended  from 
one  of  the  most  ancient  and  honorable 
houses  in  Castile.  Hyta,  (Guerras  Civiles 
de  Granada,  tom.  i.  p.  399,)  with  more  ef- 
frontery than  usual,  has  imputed  to  him 
a chivalrous  rencontre  with  a Saracen, 
which  is  recorded  of  an  ancestor,  in  the 
ancient  Chronicle  of  Alonso  XI. 

“ Garcilaso  de  la  Vega 
desde  alii  se  ha  intitulado, 
porque  en  la  Vega  heciera 
campo  con  aquel  pagano.” 

Oviedo,  however,  with  good  reason,  dis- 
trusts the  etymology  and  the  story,  as  he 
traces  both  the  cognomen  and  the  pecul- 
iar device  of  the  family  to  a much  older 
date  than  the  period  assigned  in  the 
Chronicle.  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  3,  dial.  43. 

9 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  75.— Sa- 
lazar de  Mendoza,  Cron,  del  Gran  Car- 
denal,  lib.  1,  cap.  64. 

10  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.  cap. 

83. — Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap.  76.— 
Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1487. 

1 1 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  ubi  supra. 
—Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  ubi 
supra. 

12  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  1, 
epist.  63.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  cap. 
76.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catblicos,  cap.  1 3. 
—Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  36. 

13  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  76. 

14  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cr6n.  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  lib.  1,  cap.  64.— Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  iv.  cap.  70. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catol- 
icos, MS.,  cap.  83. 

15  Bleda,  Cordnica,  lib.  5,  cap.  15.— 
Conde,  Dominacion,  tom.  iv.  pp.  237,  238. 
— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
83.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  79. 

1 6 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra. 

During  the  siege,  ambassadors  arrived 
from  an  African  potentate,  the  king  of 
Tremecen,  bearing  a magnificent  present? 


468 


PART  I. — WAR  OP  GRANADA. 


[CH.  XIII. 


to  the  Castilian  sovereigns,  interceding 
for  the  Malagans,  and  at  the  same  time 
asking  protection  for  his  subjects  from  the 
Spanish  cruisers  in  the  Mediterranean. 
The  sovereigns  graciously  complied  with 
the  latter  request,  and  complimented  the 
African  monarch  with  a plate  of  gold,  on 
which  the  royal  arms  were  curiously  em- 
bossed, says  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos, 
cap.  84. 

17  This  nobleman,  Don  Alvaro  de  Por- 
tugal, had  fled  his  native  country,  and 
sought  an  asylum  in  Castile  from  the  vin- 
dictive enmity  of  John  II.,  who  had  put 
to  death  the  duke  of  Braganza,  his  elder 
brother.  He  was  kindly  received  by  Isa- 
bella, to  whom  he  was  nearly  related,  and 
subsequently  preferred  to  several  impor- 
tant offices  of  state.  His  son,  the  count 
of  Gelves,  married  a granddaughter  of 
Christopher  Columbus.  Oviedo,  Quin- 
cuagenas,  MS. 

18  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  23.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  lib.  1,  epist.  63. — Bernaldez,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  84.— Bleda,  Coronica 
de  los  Moros,  lib.  5,  cap.  15.— L.  Marineo, 
Cosas,  Memorables,  fol.  175,  176. 

19  Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  cap.  87-89. 
—Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61ieos,  MS.,  cap. 
84. 

20  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  87.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap. 
71. 

21  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  pp.  237,  238.— Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  cap.  80. — Caro  de  Torres,  Or- 
denes  Militares,  fol.  82,  83. 

22  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  91.— 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  CatOlicos,  MS.,  cap.  84. 

The  honest  exclamation  of  the  Curate 
brings  to  mind  the  similar  encomium  of 
the  old  Moorish  ballad, 

“ Caballeros  Granadinos, 

Aunque  Moros,  hijosdalgo.” 

Hyta;  Guerras  de  Granada,  tom.  i.  p. 
257. 

23  There  is  no  older  well-authenticated 
account  of  the  employment  of  gunpow- 
der in  mining  in  European  warfare,  so 
far  as  I am  aware,  than  this  by  Rami- 
rez. Tiraboschi,  indeed,  refers,  on  the 
authority  of  another  writer,  to  a work  in 
the  library  of  the  Academy  of  Siena, 
composed  by  one  Francesco  Giorgio, 
architect  of  the  duke  of  Urbino,  about 
1480,  in  which  that  person  claims  the 
merit  of  the  invention.  (Letteratura 
Italiana,  tom.  vi.  p.  370.)  The  whole 


statement  is  obviously  too  loose  to  war- 
rant any  such  conclusion.  The  Italian 
historians  notice  the  use  of  gunpowder 
mines  at  the  siege  of  the  little  town  of 
Serezanello  in  Tuscany,  by  the  Genoese, 
in  1487,  precisely  contemporaneous  with 
the  siege  of  Malaga.  (Machiavelli,  Isto- 
rie  Fiorentine,  lib.  8.— Guicciardini,  Isto- 
ria  d’ltalia,  (Milano,  1803,)  tom.  iii.  lib.  6.) 
This  singular  coincidence,  in  nations  hav- 
ing then  but  little  intercourse,  would 
seem  to  infer  some  common  origin  of 
greater  antiquity.  However  this  may  be, 
the  writers  of  both  nations  are  agreed  in 
ascribing  the  first  successful  use  of  such 
mines  on  any  extended  scale  to  the  cele- 
brated Spanish  engineer,  Pedro  Navarro, 
when  serving  under  Gonsalvo  of  Cor- 
dova, in  his  Italian  campaigns  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  sixteenth  century.  Guic- 
ciardini, ubi  supra. — Paolo  Giovio,  De 
Vita  Magni  Gonsalvi,  (Vitas  Illustrium 
Virorum,  Basiliae,  1578,)  lib.  2.— Aleson, 
Annales  de  Navarra,  tom.  v.  lib.  35,  cap. 
12. 

24  Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Es- 
pagne,  tom.  iii.  p.  296. — L.  Marineo,  Co- 
sas Memorables,  fol.  175.— Radesy  Andra- 
da,  Las  Tres  Ordenes,  fol.  54.— Pulgar, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  92.— Bernaldez, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  85. 

25  pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  93.— 
Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne, 
tom.  iii.  p.  296. 

The  Arabic  historians  state,  that  Mala- 
ga was  betrayed  by  Ali  Dordux,  who  ad- 
mitted the  Spaniards  into  the  castle, 
while  the  citizens  were  debating  on  Fer- 
dinand’s terms.  (See  Conde,  Domina- 
cion  de  los  Arabes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  39.)  The 
letter  of  the  inhabitants,  quoted  at  length 
by  Pulgar,  would  seem  to  be  a refutation 
of  this.  And  yet  there  are  good  grounds 
for  suspecting  false  play  on  the  part  of 
the  ambassador  Dordux,  since  the  Cas- 
tilian writers  admit,  that  he  was  ex- 
empted, with  forty  of  his  friends,  from 
the  doom  of  slavery  and  forfeiture  of 
property,  passed  upon  his  fellow-citizens, 

26  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  MS., 
cap.  85. 

27  Carbajal,  whose  meagre  annals  have 
scarcely  any  merit  beyond  that  of  a mere 
chronological  table,  postpones  the  sur- 
render till  September.  Anales,  afio  1487. 
— Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1. 
cap.  14. 

28  Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  15. 

As  a counterpart  to  the  above  scene, 
twelve  Christian  renegades,  found  in  the 


CH.  XIV.] 


PART  I.— WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


469 


city,  were  transfixed  with  canes,  aca- 
navereados , a barbarous  punishment 
derived  from  the  Moors,  which  was  in- 
flicted by  horsemen  at  full  gallop,  who 
discharged  pointed  reeds  at  the  criminal, 
until  he  expired  under  repeated  wounds. 
A number  of  relapsed  Jews  were  at  the 
same  time  condemned  to  the  flames. 
“ These,”  says  father  Abarca,  “ were  the 
fetes  and  illuminations  most  grateful  to 
the  Catholic  piety  of  our  sovereigns”! 
Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  rey  30, 
cap.  3. 

29  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra. 
— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  MS.,  ubi 
supra.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist. 
6 2. 

30  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  87. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memora- 
bles,  fol.  176.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  tom.  iii.  p.  238. — Cardonne,  Hist. 
d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  p.  296. 
—Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ario  1487. 

Not  a word  of  comment  escapes  the 
Castilian  historians  on  this  merciless 
rigor  of  the  conqueror  towards  the  van- 
quished. It  is  evident  that  Ferdinand 
did  no  violence  to  the  feelings  of  his 
orthodox  subjects.  Tacendo  clamant. 

31  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  87. — Bleda,  Coronica,  lib.  5,  cap.  15. 

About  four  hundred  and  fifty  Moorish 
Jews  were  ransomed  by  a wealthy  Israel- 
ite of  Castile  for  27,000  doblas  of  gold. 
A.  proof  that  the  Jewish  stock  was  one 
which  thrived  amidst  persecution. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  that  the  circum- 
stantial Pulgar  should  have  omitted  to 
notice  so  important  a fact  as  the  scheme 
of  the  Moorish  ransom,  had  it  occurred. 
It  is  still  more  improbable,  that  the  hon- 
est Curate  of  Los  Palacios  should  have 
fabricated  it.  Any  one  who  attempts  to 
• reconcile  the  discrepancies  of  contempo- 
rary historians  even,  will  have  Lord 
Orford’s  exclamation  to  his  son  Horace 
brought  to  his  mind  ten  times  a day; 
“Oh!  read  me  not  history,  for  that  I 
know  to  be  false.” 

32  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  94. — 
Col.  de  C6d.  tom.  vi.  no.  321. 

PART  I.-CHAPTER  XIV. 

1 Zurita,  Anales.  tom.  iv.  fol.  351,  352, 
356.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii. 
lib.  25,  cap.  12.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos, 
part.  3,  cap.  95. 

2 Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  viii. 
p.  76.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  98 
—Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  402.— 


Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne, 
tom.  iii.  pp.  298,  299.— Carbajal,  Anales, 
MS.,  ano  1488. 

3 Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  pp.  239,  240.— Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  cap.  100,  101.— During  the  pre- 
ceding year,  while  the  court  was  at  Mur- 
cia, we  find  one  of  the  examples  of 
prompt  and  severe  exercise  of  justice, 
which  sometimes  occur  in  this  reign. 
One  of  the  royal  collectors  having  been 
resisted  and  personally  maltreated  by 
the  alcayde  of  Salvatierra,  a place  be- 
longing to  the  crown,  and  by  the  alcalde 
of  a territorial  court  of  the  duke  of  Alva, 
the  queen  caused  one  of  the  royal  judges 
privately  to  enter  into  the  place,  and 
take  cognizance  of  the  affair.  The  latter, 
after  a brief  investigation,  commanded 
the  alcayde  to  be  hung  up  over  his  for- 
tress, and  the  alcalde  to  be  delivered 
over  to  the  court  of  chancery  at  Valla- 
dolid, who  ordered  his  right  hand  to  be 
amputated,  and  banished  him  the  realm. 
This  summary  justice  was  perhaps  nec- 
essary in  a community,  that  might  be 
said  to  be  in  transition  from  a state  of 
barbarism  to  that  of  civilization,  and 
had  a salutary  effect  in  proving  to  the 
people,  that  no  rank  was  elevated  enough 
to  raise  the  offender  above  the  law. 
Pulgar,  cap.  99. 

4 Ialigny,  Hist,  de  Charles  VIII.,  pp, 
92,  94. — Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Prangais, 
tom.  xv.  p.  77.— Aleson,  Annales  de  Na- 
varra, tom.  v.  p.  61.— Histoire  du  Roy- 
aume  de  Navarre,  pp.  578,  579.— Pulgar, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  102. 

In  the  first  of  these  expeditions,  more 
than  a thousand  Spaniards  were  slain  or 
taken  at  the  disastrous  battle  of  St.  Au- 
bin,  in  1488,  being  the  same  in  which  lord 
Rivers,  the  English  noble,  who  made 
such  a gallant  figure  at  the  siege  of  Lcja, 
lost  his  life.  In  the  spring  of  1489,  the 
levies  sent  into  France  amounted  to  two 
thousand  in  number.  These  efforts 
abroad,  simultaneous  with  the  great 
operations  of  the  Moorish  war,  show  the 
resources  as  well  as  energy  of  the  sover- 
eigns. 

5 Pulgar,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  ubi  supra. 

6 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat&licos,  MS.,  cap. 
91.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  354.— 
Bleda,  Coronica,  fol.  607.— Abarca,  Reyes 
de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  fol.  307. 

Such  was  the  scarcity  of  grain  that 
the  prices  in  1489,  quoted  by  Bernaldez, 
are  double  those  of  the  preceding  year. 
—Both  Abarca  and  Zurita  menuon  the 


470 


PART  I.— WAR  OP  GRANADA. 


[CH.  XIV. 


report,  that  four  fifths  of  the  whole 
population  were  swept  away  by  the  pes- 
tilence of  1488.  Zurita  finds  more  diffi- 
culty in  swallowing  this  monstrous  state- 
ment than  father  Abarca,  whose  appe- 
tite for  the  marvellous  appears  to  have 
been  fully  equal  to  that  of  most  of  his 
calling  in  Spain. 

7 Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  2, 
epist.  TO.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap. 
104. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  specify  the 
names  of  the  most  distinguished  cava- 
liers who  usually  attended  the  king  in 
these  Moorish  wars;  the  heroic  ancestors 
of  many  a noble  house  still  extant  in 
Spain. 

Alonso  de  Cardenas,  master  of  Saint 
Jago. 

Juan  de  Zuniga,  master  of  Alcantara. 

Juan  Garcia  de  Padilla,  master  of 
Calatrava. 

Rodrigo  Ponce  de  Leon,  marquis  duke 
of  Cadiz. 

Enrique  de  Guzman,  duke  of  Medina 
Sidonia. 

Pedro  Manrique,  duke  of  Najera. 

Juan  Pacheco,  duke  of  Escalona,  mar- 
quis of  Villena. 

Juan  Pimentel,  count  of  Benavente. 

Fadrique  de  Toledo,  son  of  the  duke 
of  Alva. 

Diego  Fernandez  de  Cordova,  count  of 
Cabra. 

Gomez  Alvarez  de  Figueroa,  count  of 
Feria. 

Alvaro  Tellez  Giron,  count  of  Urena. 

Juan  de  Silva,  count  of  Cifuentes. 

Fadrique  Enriquez,  adelantado  of  An- 
dalusia. 

Alonso  Fernandez  de  Cordova,  lord  of 
Aguilar. 

Gonsalvo  de  Cordova,  brother  of  the 
last,  known  afterwards  as  the  Great 
Captain. 

Luis  Porto-Carrero,  lord  of  Palma. 

Gutierre  de  Cardenas,  first  commander 
of  Leon. 

Pedro  Fernandez  de  Velasco,  count  of 
Haro,  constable  of  Castile. 

Beltran  de  la  Cueva,  duke  of  Albu- 
querque. 

Diego  Fernandez  de  Cordova,  alcayde 
of  the  royal  pages,  afterwards  mar- 
quis of  Comaras. 

Alvaro  de  Zuniga,  duke  of  Be  jar. 

Inigo  Lopez  de  Mendoza,  count  of  Ten- 
dilla,  afterwards  marquis  of  Monde- 
jar. 

Luis  de  Cerda,  duke  of  Medina  Celi. 

Inigo  Lopez  de  Mendoza,  marquis  of 
Santillana,  second  duke  of  Infantado. 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  lord  of  Batras. 

8 Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  360.— 
Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom. 
iii.  p.  241.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib. 


2,  epist.  70.— Estrada,  Poblacion  de  Es- 
pafia,  tom.  ii.  fol.  239.— Marmol,  Rebelion 
de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  16. 

£ Pulgar,  Reyes  CatOlicos,  cap.  106, 
107.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  40.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  epist.  71.— Pulgar  relates  these 
particulars  with  a perspicuity  very 
different  from  his  entangled  narrative  of 
some  of  the  preceding  operations  in  this 
war.  Both  he  and  Martyr  were  present 
during  the  whole  siege  of  Baza. 

10  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  92.— Cardonne.  Hist.  d’Afrique  efc 
d’fispagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  299,  300.— Bleda, 
Cor6nica,  p.  611.— Garibay,  Compendio, 
tom.  ii.  p.  664. 

Don  Gutierre  de  Cardenas,  who  pos- 
sessed so  high  a place  in  the  confidence 
of  the  sovereigns,  occupied  a station  in 
the  queen’s  household,  as  we  have  seen, 
at  the  time  of  her  marriage  with  Ferdi- 
nand. His  discretion  and  general  ability 
enabled  him  to  retain  the  influence  which 
he  had  early  acquired,  as  is  shown  by  a 
popular  distich  of  that  time. 

“ Cardenas,  y el  Cardenal,  y Chacon,  y 
Fray  Mortero, 

Traen  la  Corte  al  retortero.” 

Fray  Mortero  was  Don  Alonso  de  Burgos, 
bishop  of  Palencia,  confessor  of  the 
sovereigns.  Don  Juan  Chacon  was  the 
son  of  Gonsalvo,  who  had  the  care  of 
Don  Alfonso  and  the  queen  during  her 
minority,  when  he  was  induced  by  the 
liberal  largesses  of  John  II.,  of  Aragon, 
to  promote  her  marriage  with  his  son 
Ferdinand.  The  elder  Chacon  was  treat- 
ed by  the  sovereigns  with  the  greatest 
deference  and  respect,  being  usually 
called  by  them  “ father.”  After  his 
death,  they  continued  to  manifest  a simi- 
lar regard  towards  Don  Juan,  his  eldest 
son,  and  heir  of  his  ample  honors  and  es- 
tates. Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Dignidades, 
lib.  4,  cap.  1.— Oviedo,  Quincuagenas, 
MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  1,2. 

11  Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  etd’Es- 
pagne,  tom.  iii.  p.  304.— Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  cap.  109.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  lib.  2,  epist.  73. — Bernaldez,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  92. 

12  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  40.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espa- 
na,  tom.  ii.  lib.  25,  cap.  12.— Pulgar, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  111. 

13  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  112.— 
Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  viii.  p. 
86. 


CH.  XV.] 


PART  I. — WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


471 


14  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos,  MS. — 
Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  2,  epist. 
73,  80.—  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  113, 
114, 117.— Garibay,  Compendio,  tom.  ii.  p. 
667.— Bleda,  Coronica,  p.  64. 

The  plague,  which  fell  heavily  this  year 
on  some  parts  of  Andalusia,  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  attacked  the  camp,  which 
Bleda  imputes  to  the  healing  influence  of 
the  Spanish  sovereigns,  “whose  good 
faith,  religion,  and  virtue,  banished  the 
contagion  from  their  army,  where  it 
must  otherwise  have  prevailed.”  Per- 
sonal comforts  and  cleanliness  of  the 
soldiers,  though  not  quite  so  miraculous 
a cause,  may  be  considered  perhaps  full 
as  efficacious. 

15  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  2, 
epist.  73.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap. 
116. 

16  pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  118.— 
Archivo  de  Simancas,  in  Mem.  de  la 
Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  p.  311. 

The  city  of  Valencia  loaned  35,000  flor- 
ins on  the  crown  and  20,000  on  a collar 
of  rubies.  They  were  not  wholly  re- 
deemed till  1495.  Senor  Clemencin  has 
given  a catalogue  of  the  royal  jewels, 
(see  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
ilustracion  6,)  which  appear  to  have  been 
extremely  rich  and  numerous,  for  a pe- 
riod anterior  to  the  discovery  of  those 
countries,  whose  mines  have  since  fur- 
nished Europe  with  its  bijouterie.  Isa- 
bella, however,  set  so  little  value  on  them, 
that  she  divested  herself  of  most  of  them 
in  favor  of  her  daughters. 

17  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
92.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  120, 
121. — Ferreras,  Hist  d’Espagne,  tom. 
viii.  p.  93. — Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib. 
3,  epist.  80. 

18  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  3, 
epist.  80.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  tom.  iii.  p.  242.— Carbajal,  Ana- 
les,  MS.,  ano  1489.— Cardonne,  Hist. 
d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  p.  305. 

19  Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap.  124. — 
Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap. 
16. 

20  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  40. — Bleda,  Cordnica,  p.  612. 
— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
92.— Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1, 
cap.  16. 

21  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  3, 
epist.  81. — Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et 
d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  p.  340. — Pulgar,  Reyes 
Cat61icos,  loc.  cit. — Conde,  Dominacion 
de  los  Arabes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  40. 


2?  El  Nubiense,  Descripcion  de  Espana, 
p.  160,  not.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  aho 
1488.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Es- 
pagne, tom.  iii.  p.  304.— Peter  Martyr, 
Opus  Epist.,  lib.  3,  epist.  81.— Conde,  Do- 
minacion de  los  Arabes,  tom.  iii.  pp.  245, 
246.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS., 
cap.  93. 

23  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  fol.  360.— 
Abarca,  Reyes  de' Aragon,  tom.  ii.  fol.  308. 

24  The  city  of  Seville  alone  maintained 
600  horse  and  8,000  foot  under  the  count 
of  Cifuentes,  for  the  space  of  eight 
months  during  this  siege.  See  Zuniga, 
Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  404. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  XV. 

1 Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1490.— Ber- 
naldez, Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  95.— 
Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  pp.  404,  405. 
—Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  part.  3,  cap. 
127. — La  Cl£de,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom. 
iv.  p.  19. — Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Por- 
tuguesa,  tom.  ii.  p.  452. 

2 Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portugesa, 
tom.  ii.  p.  452-456. — Florez,  Reynas  Cathol- 
icas,  p.  845.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
cap.  129.— Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS., 
bat.  1,  quinc.  2,  dial.  3. 

3 Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  41.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Ca- 
tolicos, MS.,  cap.  90. 

Neither  the  Arabic  nor  Castilian  author- 
ities impeach  the  justice  of  the  summons 
made  by  the  Spanish  sovereigns.  I do 
not,  however,  find  any  other  foundation 
for  the  obligation  imputed  to  Abdallah 
in  them,  than  that  monarch’s  agreement 
during  his  captivity  at  Loja,  in  1486,  to 
surrender  his  capital  in  exchange  for 
Guadix,  provided  the  latter  should  be 
conquered  within  six  months.  Pulgar, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  p.  275.— Garibay,  Com- 
pendio, tom.  iv.  p.  418. 

4 L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
176.— Pulgar,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  cap.  130. 
—Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  cap.  85. — Car- 
donne, Hist.  d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne,  tom. 
iii.  p.  309. 

5 Pulgar,  Reyes  Catolicos,  cap.  131, 132. 
—Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
97.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Ara- 
bes, tom.  iii.  cap.  41.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  lib.  3,  epist.  84.— Garibay,  Com- 
pendio, tom.  iv.  p.  424.— Cardonne,  Hist. 
d’Afrique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  309, 
310. 

6 Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1491. 

7 According  to  Zuniga,  the  quota  fur- 
nished by  Seville  this  season  amounted 


472 


PART  I.— WAR  OP  GRANADA. 


[CII.  XV. 


to  6,000  foot  and  500  horse,  who  were  re- 
cruited by  fresh  reinforcements  no  less 
than  five  times  during  the  campaign. 
Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  406.— See  also  Col. 
de  Cedulas,  tom.  iii.  no.  3. 

8 Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap  42. — Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catol- 
icos,  MS.,  cap.  100.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  lib.  3,  epist.  89. — Marmol,  Rebelion 
de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  18. — L.  Marineo, 
Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  177. 

Martyr  remarks,  that  the  Genoese  mer- 
chants, “ voyagers  to  every  clime,  declare 
this  to  be  the  largest  fortified  city  in  the 
world.”  Casiri  has  collected  a body  of 
interesting  particulars  respecting  the 
wealth,  population,  and  social  habits  of 
Granada,  from  various  Arabic  authori- 
ties. Bibliotheca  Escurialensis,  tom.  ii. 
pp.  247-260. 

The  French  work  of  Laborde,  Voyage 
Pittoresque,  (Paris,  180?,)  and  the  English 
one  of  Murphy,  Engravings  of  Arabian 
Antiquities  of  Spain,  (London,  1816,)  do 
ample  justice  in  their  finished  designs  to 
the  general  topography  and  architectural 
magnificence  of  Granada. 

9 On  one  occasion,  a Christian  knight 
having  discomfited  with  a handful  of  men 
a much  superior  body  of  Moslem  chivalry, 
King  Abdallah  testified  his  admiration  of 
his  prowess  by  sending  him  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  a magnificent  present,  togeth- 
er with  his  own  sword  superbly  mounted. 
(Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  p.  178.) 
The  Moorish  ballad  beginning 

“ A1  Rey  Chico  de  Granada,” 
describes  the  panic  occasioned  in  the  city 
by  the  Christian  encampment  on  the 
Xenil. 

“ Por  ese  fresco  Genii 
un  campo  viene  marchando, 
todo  de  lucida  gente, 
las  armas  van  relumbrando. 

“ Las  vanderas  traen  tendidas, 
y un  estandarte  dorado; 
el  General  de  esta  gente, 
es  el  invicto  Fernando. 

Y tambien  viene  la  Reyna, 

Muger  del  Rey  don  Fernando, 
la  qual  tiene  tan  to  esfuerzo 
que  anima  a qualquier  soldado.” 

10  Bernaldez,  Reyes Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap. 

101. 

11  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap. 
101. — Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  42.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  lib,  4,  epist.  90.— Pulgar,  Reyes 
Catolicos,  cap.  133.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom. 
iv.  cap.  88. 

Isabella  afterwards  eaused  a Francis- 


can monastery  to  be  built  in  commemo- 
ration of  this  event  at  Zubia,  where,  ac- 
cording to  Mr.  Irving,  the  house  from 
which  she  witnessed  the  action  is  to  be 
seen  at  the  present  day.  See  Conquest 
of  Granada,  chap.  90,  note. 

12  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  lib.  4, 
epist.  91.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos, 
MS.,  cap.  101.— Garibav,  Compendio,  tom. 
ii.  p.  673.— Bleda,  Coronica,  p.  619.— Mar- 
mol, Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  iib.  1,  cap. 
18. 

13  Estrada,  Poblacion  de  Espaila,  tom. 

ii.  pp.  314,  348.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  lib.  4,  epist.  91.— Marmol,  Rebel- 
ion de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  18. 

Hyta.  who  embellishes  his  florid  prose 
with  occasional  extracts  from  the  beauti- 
ful ballad  poetry  of  Spain,  gives  one 
commemorating  the  erection  of  Santa 
Fe. 

“ Cercada  esta  Santa  Fe 
con  mucho  lienzo  encerado 
al  reded  or  muchas  tiendas 
de  seda,  oro,  y brocado. 

“ Donde  estan  Duques,  y Condes, 
Senores  de  gran' estado,”  &c. 

Guerras  de  Granada,  p.  515. 

14  Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Granada, 
fol.  74. — Giovio,  De  Vita  Gonsalvi,  apud 
Vitae  Illust.  Virorum,  pp.  211,  212.— Sal- 
azar de  Mendoza,  Cron,  del  Gran  Carde- 
nal,  p.  236.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Afrique 
et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  316,  317.— 
Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes,  tom. 

iii.  cap.  42. — L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memo- 
rabies,  fol.  178.— Marmol,  however,  as- 
signs the  date  in  the  text  to  a separate 
capitulation  respecting  Abdallah,  dating 
that  made  in  behalf  of  the  city  three 
days  later.  (Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib. 
1,  cap.  19.)  This  author  has  given  the 
articles  of  the  treaty  with  greater  fulness 
and  precision  than  any  other  Spanish 
historian. 

15  Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib. 
1,  cap.  19.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los 
Arabes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  42.— Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  ii.  cap.  90.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Af- 
rique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  317,  318. 
— Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  28. 

Martyr  adds,  that  the  principal  Moor- 
ish nobility  were  to  remove  from  the 
city.  (Opus  Epist.,  lib.  4,  epist.  92.) 
Pedraza,  who  has  devoted  a volume  to 
the  history  of  Granada,  does  not  seem 
to  think  the  capitulations  worth  specify- 
ing. Most  of  the  modern  Castilians  pass 
very  lightly  over  them.  They  furnish 


CH.  XV.] 


PART  I.— WAR  OF  GRANADA. 


473 


too  bitter  a comment  on  the  conduct  of 
subsequent  Spanish  monarchs.  Marmol 
and  the  judicious  Zurita  agree  in  every 
substantial  particular  with  Conde,  and 
this  coincidence  may  be  considered  as 
establishing  the  actual  terms  of  the 
treaty. 

16  Oviedo,  whose  narrative  exhibits 
many  discrepancies  with  those  of  other 
contemporaries,  assigns  this  part  to  the 
count  of  Tendilla,  the  first  captain-gen- 
eral of  Granada.  (Quincuagenas,  MS., 
bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  28.)  But,  as  this 
writer,  though  an  eyewitness,  was  but 
thirteen  or  fourteen  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  the  capture,  and  wrote  some 
sixty  years  later  from  his  early  recollec- 
tions, his  authority  cannot  be  considered 
of  equal  weight  with  that  of  persons, 
who,  like  Martyr,  described  events  as 
they  were  passing  before  them. 

17  Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Granada, 
fol.  75.— Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron,  del 
Gran  Cardenal,  p.  233.—  Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  iv.  cap.  90.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus 
Epist.,  lib.  4,  epist.  92.—  Abarca,  Reyes 
de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  fol.  309.— Marmol,  Re- 
belion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1,  cap.  20. 

Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  ubi 
supra.— Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Ara- 
bes,  tom.  iii.  cap.  43.— Pedraza,  Antigue- 
dad de  Granada,  fol.  76.— Bernaldez, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  102.— Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  iv.  cap.  90.— Oviedo,  Quin- 
cuagenas, MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  28. 

19  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  ubi 
supra.— One  is  reminded  of  Tasso’s  de- 
scription of  the  somewhat  similar  feel 
ings  exhibited  by  the  crusaders  on  their 
entrance  into  Jerusalem. 

41  Ecco  apparir  Gerusalem  si  vede, 

Ecco  additar  Gerusalem  si  scorge; 

Ecco  da  mille  voci  unitamente 
Gerusalemme  salutar  si  sente. 
***** 

A1  gran  piacer  che  quella  prima  vista 
Dolcemente  spiro  nell’  altrui  petto, 

Alta  contrizion  successe,  mista 
Di  timoroso  e riverente  affetto. 

Osano  appena  d’  innalzar  la  vista 
Yer  la  citta.” 

Gerusalemme  Liberata, 
Cant.  iii.  st.  3,  5. 

20  Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  p 
597.— Pedraza,  Antiguedad  de  Granada, 
fol.  76.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ario  1492. 
—Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  43.— Bleda,  Coronica,  pp. 
621,  622.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  cap.  90. 
—Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos,  lib.  1, 


cap.  20.— L.  Marineo,  and  indeed  most  of 
the  Spanish  authorities,  represent  the 
sovereigns  as  having  postponed  their  en- 
trance into  the  city  until  the  5th  or  6th  of 
January.  A letter  transcribed  by  Pe- 
draza, addressed  by  the  queen  to  the 
prior  of  Guadalupe,  one  of  her  council, 
dated  from  the  city  of  Granada  on  the 
2d  of  January,  1492,  shows  the  inaccuracy 
of  this  statement.  See  folio  76. 

In  Mr.  Lockhart’s  picturesque  version 
of  the  Moorish  ballads,  the  reader  may 
find  an  animated  description  of  the 
triumphant  entry  of  the  Christian  army 
into  Granada. 

“ There  was  crying  in  Granada  when  the 
sun  was  going  down, 

Some  calling  on  the  Trinity,  some  calling 
on  Mahoun; 

Here  passed  away  the  Koran,  there  in 
the  cross  was  borne. 

And  here  was  heard  the  Christian  bell, 
and  there  the  Moorish  horn; 

Te  Deum  lauclcimus  was  up  the  Alcala 
sung, 

Down  from  the  Alhambra’s  minarets 
were  all  the  crescents  liung; 

The  arms  thereon  of  Aragon  and  Castile 
they  display ; 

One  king  comes  in  in  triumph,  one  weep- 
ing goes  away.” 

21  Conde,  Dominacion  de  los  Arabes, 
tom.  iii.  cap.  90.— Cardonne,  Hist.  d’Af- 
rique  et  d’Espagne,  tom.  iii.  pp.  319,  320. 
— Garibay,  Compendior  tom.  iv.  lib.  40, 
cap.  42.— Marmol,  Rebelion  de  Moriscos, 
lib.  1,  cap.  20. 

Mr.  Irving,  in  his  beautiful  Spanish 
Sketch  book,  “The  Alhambra,”  devotes 
a chapter  to  mementos  of  Boabdil,  in 
which  he  traces  minutely  the  route  of 
the  deposed  monarch  after  quitting  the 
gates  of  his  capital.  The  same  author, 
in  the  Appendix  to  his  Chronicle  of 
Granada,  concludes  a notice  of  Abdallah's 
fate  with  the  following  description  of  his 
person.  “ A portrait  of  Boabdil  el  Chico 
is  to  be  seen  in  the  picture  gallery  of  the 
Generalife.  He  is  represented  with  a 
mild,  handsome  face,  a fair  complexion, 
and  yellow  hair.  His  dress  is  of  yellow 
brocade,  relieved  with  black  velvet;  and 
he  has  a black  velvet  cap,  surmounted 
with  a crown.  In  the  armory  of  Ma- 
drid are  two  suits  of  armour  said  to  have 
belonged  to  him,  one  of  solid  steel,  with 
very  little  ornament;  the  morion  closed. 
From  the  proportions  of  these  suits  of 
armour,  he  must  have  been  of  full  stature 
and  vigorous  form.” 

22  Senarega,  Commentarii  de  Rebus 


474 


PART  I.  — WAR  OP  GRANADA. 


(CH.  XV. 


Genuensibus,  apud  Muratori,  Rerumltal- 
icarum  Scriptores,  (Mediolani,  1723-51,) 
tom.  xxiv.  p.  531.— It  formed  the  subject 
of  a theatrical  representation  before  the 
court  at  Naples,  in  the  same  year.  This 
drama,  or  Farsa,  as  it  is  called  by  its  dis- 
tinguished author,  Sannazaro,  is  an  alle- 
gorical medley,  in  which  Faith,  Joy,  and 
the  false  prophet  Mahomet  play  the  prin- 
cipal parts.  The  difficulty  of  a precise 
classification  of  this  piece,  has  given  rise 
to  warmer  discussion  among  Italian  crit- 
ics, than  the  subject  may  be  thought  to 
warrant.  See  Signorelli,  Vicende  della 
Coltura  nelle  due  Sicilie,  (Napoli,  1810,) 
tom.  iii.  pp.  543  et  seq. 

23  “ Somewhat  about  this  time,  came 
letters  from  Ferdinando  and  Isabella, 
king  and  queen  of  Spain ; signifying  the 
final  conquest  of  Granada  from  the  Moors; 
which  action,  in  itself  so  worthy,  King 
Ferdinando,  whose  manner  was,  never  to 
lose  any  virtue  for  the  showing,  had  ex- 
pressed and  displayed  in  his  letters,  at 
large,  with  all  the  particularities  and  re- 
ligious punctos  and  ceremonies,  that 
were  observed  in  the  reception  of  that 
city  and  kingdom ; showing  amongst 
other  things,  that  the  king  would  not  by 
any  means  in  person  enter  the  city  until 
he  had  first  aloof  seen  the  Cross  set  up 
upon  the  greater  tower  of  Granada, 
whereby  it  became  Christian  ground. 
That  likewise,  before  he  would  enter,  he 
did  homage  to  God  above,  pronouncing 
by  an  herald  from  the  height  of  that 
tower,  that  he  did  acknowledge  to  have 
recovered  that  kingdom  by  the  help  of 
God  Almighty,  and  the  glorious  Virgin, 
and  the  virtuous  apostle  St.  James,  and 
the  holy  father  Innocent  VIII.,  together 
with  the  aids  and  services  of  his  prelates, 
nobles,  and  commons.  That  yet  he 
stirred  not  from  his  camp,  till  he  had 
seen  a little  army  of  martyrs,  to  the  num- 
ber of  seven  hundred  and  more  Chris- 
tians, that  had  lived  in  bonds  and  servi- 
tude, as  slaves  to  the  Moors,  pass  before 
his  eyes,  singing  a psalm  for  their  re- 
demption; and  that  he  had  given  tribute 
unto  God,  by  alms  and  relief  extended  to 
them  all,  for  his  admission  into  the  city. 
These  things  were  in  the  letters,  with 
many  more  ceremonies  of  a kind  of  holy 
ostentation. 

“ The  king,  ever  willing  to  put  himself 
into  the  consort  or  quire  of  all  religious 
actions,  and  naturally  affecting  much 
the  king  cf  Spain,  as  far  as  one  king  can 
affect  another,  partly  for  his  virtues,  and 


partly  for  a counterpoise  to  France; 
upon  the  receipt  of  these  letters,  sent  all 
his  nobles  and  prelates  that  were  about 
the  court,  together  with  the  mayor  and 
aldermen  of  London,  in  great  solemnity 
to  the  church  of  Paul;  there  to  hear  a 
declaration  from  the  lord  chancellor,  now 
cardinal.  When  they  were  assembled, 
the  cardinal,  standing  upon  the  upper- 
most step,  or  halfpace,  before  the  quire, 
and  all  the  nobles,  prelates,  and  govern- 
ors of  the  city  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs, 
made  a speech  to  them;  letting  them 
know  that  they  were  assembled  in. that 
consecrated  place  to  sing  unto  God  a new 
song.  For  that,  said  he,  fhese  many  years 
the  Christians  have  not  gained  new 
ground  or  territory  upon  the  infidels,  nor 
enlarged  and  set  farther  the  bounds  of  the 
Christian  world.  But  this  is  now  done 
by  the  prowess  and  devotion  of  Ferdi- 
nando and  Isabella,  kings  of  Spain ; who 
have,  to  their  immortal  honor,  recovered 
the  great  and  rich  kingdom  of  Granada, 
and  the  populous  and  mighty  city  of  the 
same  name  from  the  Moors,  having  been 
in  possession  thereof  by  the  space  of 
seven  hundred  years,  and  more;  for 
which  this  assembly  and  all  Christians 
are  to  render  laud  and  thanks  to  God, 
and  to  celebrate  this  noble  act  of  the 
king  of  Spain;  who  in  this  is  not  only  vic- 
torious but  apostolical,  in  the  gaining  of 
new  provinces  to  the  Christian  faith. 
And  the  rather  for  that  this  victory  and 
conquest  is  obtained  without  much  ef- 
fusion of  blood.  Whereby  it  is  to  be 
hoped,  that  there  shall  be  gained  not  only 
new  territory,  Jmt  infinite  souls  to  the 
Church  of  Christ,  whom  the  Almighty, 
as  it  seems,  would  have  live  to  be  con- 
verted. Herewithal  he  did  relate  some 
of  the  most  memorable  particulars  of  the 
war  and  victory.  And,  after  his  speech 
ended,  the  whole  assembly  went  solemn- 
ly in  procession,  and  Te  Deum  was  sung.” 
Lord  Bacon,  History  of  the  Reign  of 
King  Henry  VII.,  in  his  Works,  (ed.  Lon- 
don, 1819,)  vol.  v.  pp.  85,  86.— See  also 
Hall,  Chronicle,  p.  453. 

24  The  African  descendants  of  the  Span- 
ish Moors,  unable  wholly  to  relinquish 
the  hope  of  restoration  to  the  delicious 
abodes  of  their  ancestors,  continued  for 
many  generations,  and  perhaps  still  con- 
tinue, to  put  up  a petition  to  that  effect 
in  their  mosques  every  Friday.  Pedraza 
Antiguedad  de  Granada,  fol.  7. 

25  Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1492. 

Don  Henrique  de  Guzman,  duke  of 


CH.  XVI.  J 


PART  I.— CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


475 


Medina  Sidonia,  the  ancient  enemy,  and, 
since  the  commencement  of  the  Moorish 
war,  the  firm  friend  of  the  marquis  of 
Cadiz,  died  the  28th  of  August,  on  the 
same  day  with  the  latter. 

26  Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  411.— 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  104. 

The  marquis  left  three  illegitimate 
daughters  by  a noble  Spanish  lady,  who 
all  formed  high  connexions.  He  was 
succeeded  in  his  titles  and  estates,  by  the 
permission  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  by 
Don  Rodrigo  Ponce  de  Leon,  the  son  of 
his  eldest  daughter,  who  had  married 
with  one  of  her  kinsmen.  Cadiz  was  sub- 
sequently annexed  by  the  Spanish  sover- 
eigns to  the  crown,  from  which  it  had 
been  detached  in  Henry  IV.’s  time,  and 
considerable  estates  were  given  as  an 
equivalent,  together  with  the  title  of 
Duke  of  Arcos,  to  the  family  of  Ponce 
de  Leon. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  XVI. 

1 Aragon,  or  rather  Catalonia,  main- 
tained an  extensive  commerce  with  the 
Levant,  and  the  remote  regions  of  the 
east,  during  the  middle  ages,  through  the 
flourishing  port  of  Barcelona.  See  Cap- 
many  y Montpalau,  Memorias  Historicas 
sobre  la  Marina,  Comercio  y Artes  de 
Barcelona,  (Madrid,  1779-92,)  passim. 

2 A council  of  mathematicians  in  the 
court  of  John  II.,  of  Portugal,  first  de- 
vised the  application  of  the  ancient  as- 
trolabe to  navigation,  thus  affording  to 
the  mariner  the  essential  advantages  ap- 
pertaining to  the  modern  quadrant.  The 
discovery  of  the  polarity  of  the  needle, 
which  vulgar  tradition  assigned  to  the 
Amalfite  Flavio  Gioja,  and  which  Robert- 
son has  sanctioned  without  scruple,  is 
clearly  proved  to  have  occurred  more 
than  a century  earlier.  Tiraboschi,  who 
investigates  the  matter  with  his  usual  eru- 
dition, passing  by  the  doubtful  reference 
of  Guiot  de  Provins,  whose  age  and  per- 
sonal identity  even  are  contested,  traces 
the  familiar  use  of  the  magnetic  needle 
as  far  back  as  the  first  half  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  by  a pertinent  passage 
from  Cardinal  Vitri,  who  died  1244;  and 
sustains  this  by  several  similar  refer- 
ences to  other  authors  of  the  same  cent- 
ury. Capmany  finds  no  notice  of  its  use 
by  the  Castilian  navigators  earlier  than 
1403.  It  was  not  until  considerably  later 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  that  the  Portu- 
guese voyagers,  trusting  to  its  guidance, 
ventured  to  quit  the  Mediterranean  and 


African  coasts,  and  extend  their  naviga- 
tion to  Madeira  and  the  Azores.  See 
Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  los  Viages  y Des- 
cubrimientos  que  liicieron  por  Mar  los 
Espanoles,  (Madrid,  1825-29.)  tom.  i.  Int. 
sec.  33.— Tiraboschi,  Letteratura  Italiana, 
tom.  iv.  pp.  173,  174. — Capmany,  Mem.de 
Barcelona,  tom.  iii.  part.  1,  cap.  4.— Koch, 
Tableau  des  Revolutions  de  PEurope, 
(Paris,  1814,)  tom.  i.  pp.  358-360. 

3 Four  of  the  islands  were  conquered 
on  behalf  of  private  adventurers  chiefly 
from  Andalusia,  before  the  accession  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  under  their 
reign  were  held  as  the  property  of  a no- 
ble Castilian  family,  named  Peraza.  The 
sovereigns  sent  a considerable  armament 
frow  Seville  in  1480,  which  subdued  the 
great  island  of  Canary  on  behalf  of  the 
crown,  and  another  in  1493,  which  ef- 
fected the  reduction  of  Palma  and  Tene- 
riffe  after  a sturdy  resistance  from  the 
natives.  Bernaldez  postpones  the  last 
conquest  to  1495.  Salazar  de  Mendoza, 
Monarquia,  tom.  i.  p.  347-349.— Pulgar, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  pp.  136,  203.— Bernaldez, 
Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  64,  65,  66,  133. 
—Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom.  i. 
introd.,  sec.  28. 

4 Among  the  provisions  of  the  sover- 
eigns enacted  previous  to  the  present 
date,  may  be  noted  those  for  regulating 
the  coin  and  weights;  for  opening  a free 
trade  between  Castile  and  Aragon;  for 
security  to  Genoese  and  Venetian  trading 
vessels ; for  safe  conduct  to  mariners  and 
fishermen;  for  privileges  to  the  seamen 
of  Palos;  for  prohibiting  the  plunder  of 
vessels  wrecked  on  the  coast;  and  an  or- 
dinance of  the  very  last  year,  requiring 
foreigners  to  take  their  return  cargoes  in 
the  products  of  the  country.  See  these 
laws  as  extracted  from  the  Ordenangas, 
Reales  and  the  various  public  archives, 
in  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
Illust.  11. 

5 Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  pp.  373, 374, 
398.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  iv.  lib.  20,  cap. 
30,  34.— Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
tom.  i.  introd.,  sec.  21,  24.— Ferreras, 
Hist.  d'Espagne,  tom.  vii.  p.  548. 

6 Spotorno,  Memorials  of  Columbus, 
(London,  1823,)  p.  14.— Senarega,  apud 
Muratori,  Rerum  Ital.  Script.,  tom.  xxiv. 
p.  535. — Antonio  Gallo,  De  Navigatione 
Columbi,  apud  Muratori,  Rerum  Ital. 
Script.,  tom.  xxiii.  p.  202. 

It  is  very  generally  agreed  that  the 
father  of  Columbus  exercised  the  craft 
of  a wool-carder,  or  weaver.  The  admi- 


476 


PART  I.  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS. 


[CH.  XVI. 


ral's  son,  Ferdinand,  after  some  specula- 
tion on  the  genealogy  of  his  illustrious 
parent,  concludes  with  remarking,  that, 
after  all,  a noble  descent  would  confer 
less  lustre  on  him  than  to  have  sprung 
from  such  a father;  a philosophical  sen- 
timent, indicating  pretty  strongly  that  he 
had  no  great  ancestry  to  boast  of.  Fer- 
dinand finds  something  extremely  myste- 
rious and  typical  in  his  father’s  name  of 
Columbus , signifying  a dove , in  token  of 
his  being  ordained  to  “carry  the  olive- 
branch  and  oil  of  baptism  over  the  ocean, 
like  Noah’s  dove,  to  denote  the  peace  and 
union  of  the  heathen  people  with  the 
church,  after  they  had  been  shut  up  in 
the  ark  of  darkness  and  confusion.” 
Fernando  Colon,  Historia  del  Almirante, 
cap.  1,  2,  apud  Barcia,  Historiadores  Pri- 
mitives de  las  Indias  Occidentales,  (Mad- 
rid, 1749,)  tom.  i. 

7 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
131.— Munoz,  Historia  del  Nuevo-Mundo, 
(Madrid,  1793,)  lib.  2,  sec.  13. 

There  are  no  sufficient  data  for  deter- 
mining the  period  of  Columbus’s  birth. 
The  learned  Munoz  places  it  in  1446. 
(Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  12.) 
Navarrete,  who  has  weighed  the  various 
authorities  with  caution,  seems  inclined 
to  remove  it  back  eight  or  ten  years  fur- 
ther, resting  chiefly  on  a remark  of  Ber- 
naldez, that  he  died  in  1506,  “in  a good 
old  age,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  a little 
more  or  less.”  (Cap.  131.)  The  expres- 
sion is  somewhat  vague.  In  order  to  rec- 
oncile the  facts  with  this  hypothesis, 
Navarrete  is  compelled  to  reject,  as  a 
chirographical  blunder,  a passage  in  a 
letter  of  the  admiral,  placing  his  birth  in 
1456,  and  to  distort  another  passage  in 
his  book  of  “ Prophecies,”  which,  if  liter- 
ally taken,  would  seem  to  establish  his 
birth  near  the  time  assigned  by  Munoz. 
Incidental  allusions  in  some  other  author- 
ities, speaking  of  Columbus’s  old  age  at 
or  near  the  time  of  his  death,  strongly 
corroborate  Navarrete’s  inference.  (See 
Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom.  i.  introd.,  sec. 
54.)— Mr.  Irving  seems  willing  to  rely  ex- 
clusively on  the  authority  of  Bernaldez. 

8 Antonio  de  Herrera,  Historia  General 
de  las  Indias  Occidentales,  (Amberes, 
1728,)  tom.  i.  dec.  1,  lib.  1.  cap.  7.—  Gomara, 
Historia  de  las  Indias,  cap.  14,  apud  Bar- 
cia, Hist.  Primitivos,  tom.  ii. — Bernaldez, 
Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap.  118.— Navar- 
rete, Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom.  i.  introd., 
sec.  30. 

Ferdinand  Columbus  enumerates  three 


grounds  on  which  his  father’s  conviction 
of  land  in  the  west  was  founded.  First, 
natural  reason, — or  conclusions  drawn 
from  science;  secondly,  authority  of 
writers,— amounting  to  little  more  than 
vague  speculations  of  the  ancients ; third- 
ly, testimony  of  sailors,  comprehending, 
in  addition  to  popular  rumors  of  land  de- 
scribed in  western  voyages,  such  relics 
as  appeared  to  have  floated  to  the  Euro- 
pean shores  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  6-8. 

9  None  of  the  intimations  are  so  precise 
as  that  contained  in  the  well-known  lines 
of  Seneca’s  Medea, 

“ Venient  annis  saecula,”  &c., 

although,  when  regarded  as  a mere  poet- 
ical vagary,  it  has  not  the  weight  which 
belongs  to  more  serious  suggestions,  of 
similar  import,  in  the  writings  of  Aris- 
totle and  Strabo.  The  various  allusions 
in  the  ancient  classic  writers  to  an  undis- 
covered world  form  the  subject  of  an 
elaborate  essay  in  the  Memorias  da  Acad. 
Real  das  Sciencias  de  Lisboa,  (tom.  v.  pp. 
101-112,)  and  are  embodied,  in  much 
greater  detail,  in  the  first  section  of  Hum- 
boldt’s “ Histoire  de  la  Geographie  du 
Nouveau  Continent”;  a work  in  which 
the  author,  with  his  usual  acuteness,  has 
successfully  applied  the  vast  stores  of 
his  erudition  and  experience  to  the  illus- 
tration of  many  interesting  points  con- 
nected with  the  discovery  of  the  New 
World,  and  the  personal  history  of  Co- 
lumbus. 

3 0 It  is  probably  the  knowledge  of  this 
which  has  led  some  writers  to  impute 
part  of  his  work  to  the  learned  Marsilio 
Ficino,  and  others,  with  still  less  charity 
and  probability,  to  refer  the  authorship 
of  the  whole  to  Politian  Comp.  Tasso, 
Opere,  (Venezia,  1735-42,)  tom.  x.  p.  129, 
—and  Crescimbeni,  Istoria  della  Volgar 
Poesia,  (Venezia,  1731,)  tom.  iii.  pp.  273, 
274. 

11  Pulci,  Morgante  Maggiore,  canto  25, 
st.  229,  230.— I have  used  blank  verse,  as 
affording  facility  for  a more  literal  ver- 
sion than  the  corresponding  ottava  rim  a 
of  the  original.  This  passage  of  Pul- 
ci, which  has  not  fallen  under  the  no- 
tice of  Humboldt,  or  any  other  writer  on 
the  same  subject  whom  I have  consulted, 
affords,  probably,  the  most  circumstan- 
tial prediction  that  is  to  be  found  of  the 
existence  of  a western  world.  Dante, 
two  centuries  before,  had  intimated  more 


PART  I.— CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS.  477 


CH.  XVI.] 

vaguely  his  belief  in  an  undiscovered 
quarter  of  the  globe. 

“De’  vostri  sensi,  eh’  e del  rimanente, 
Non  vogliate  negar  l'esperienza, 
Diretro  al  sol,  del  mondo  senza gente.” 
Inferno,  cant.  26,  v.  115. 

12  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom. 
ii.,  Col.  Dipl.,  no.  1.— Munoz,  Hist,  del 
Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  17.— It  is  singu- 
lar that  Columbus,  in  his  visit  to  Iceland, 
in  1477,  (see  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Al- 
mirante, cap.  4.)  should  have  learned 
nothing  of  the  Scandinavian  voyages  to 
the  northern  shores  of  America  in  the 
tenth  and  following  centuries;  yet  if  he 
was  acquainted  with  them,  it  appears 
equally  surprising  that  he  should  not 
have  adduced  the  fact  in  support  of  his 
own  hypothesis  of  the  existence  of  land 
in  the  west;  and  that  he  should  have 
taken  a route  so  different  from  that  of 
his  predecessors  in  the  path  of  discovery. 
It  may  be,  however,  as  M.  Humboldt  has 
well  remarked,  that  the  information  he 
obtained  in  Iceland  was  too  vague  to  sug- 
est  the  idea,  that  the  lands  thus  discov- 
ered by  the  Northmen  had  any  connexion 
with  the  Indies,  of  which  he  was  in  pur- 
suit. In  Columbus’s  day,  indeed,  so  lit- 
tle was  understood  of  the  true  position  of 
these  countries,  that  Greenland  is  laid 
down  on  the  maps  in  the  European  seas, 
and  as  a peninsular  prolongation  of  Scan- 
dinavia. See  Humboldt,  Geographie  du 
Nouveau  Continent,  tom.  ii.  pp.  118,  125. 

13  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  tom.  i. 
dec.  1,  lib.  1,  cap.  7.— Munoz,  Hist,  del 
Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  19. — Gomara, 
Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  15. — Benzoni, 
Novi  Orbis  Historia,  lib.  1,  cap.  6.— Fer- 
nando Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  10. 
—Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa, 
tom.  ii.  part.  3,  cap.  4. 

14  Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  dial,  de 
Talavera. 

16  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Cron,  del  Gran 
Cardenal,  p.  214.— Herrera,  Indias  Occi- 
dentales, tom.  i.  dec.  1.  lib.  1,  cap.  8.— 
Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante, 
cap.  11. 

Munoz  postpones  his  advent  to  Spain 
to  1485,  on  the  supposition  that  he  offered 
his  services  to  Genoa  immediately  after 
this  rupture  with  Portugal.  Hist,  del 
Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  21. 

10  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  dec.  1, 
lib.  1,  cap.  8.— Zuniga,  Annales  de  Se- 
villa, p.  104.— Navarrete,  Coleccion  de 


Viages,  tom.  i.  sec.  60,  61,  tom.  ii.,  Col. 
Dipl.  nos.  2,  4. 

17  This  prelate,  Diego  de  Deza,  was 
born  of  poor,  but  respectable  parents,  at 
Toro.  He  early  entered  the  Dominican 
order,  where  his  learning  an  exemplary 
life  recommended  him  to  the  notice  of 
the  sovereigns,  who  called  him  to  court  to 
take  charge  of  Prince  John’s  education. 
He  was  afterwards  raised,  through  the 
usual  course  of  episcopal  preferment,  to 
the  metropolitan  see  of  Seville.  His  situ- 
ation, as  confessor  of  Ferdinand,  gave 
him  great  influence  over  that  monarch, 
with  whom  he  appears  to  have  main- 
tained an  intimate  correspondence,  to 
the  day  of  his  death.  Oviedo,  Quincuage- 
nas, MS.,  dial,  de  Deza. 

18  Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almi  - 
rante, cap.  11. — Salazar  de  Mendoza, 
Cron,  del  Gran  Cardenal,  p.  215.— Munoz, 
Hist,  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  25,  29. 
—Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom. 
i.  in  trod.,  sec.  60. 

19  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  dec.  1, 
lib.  1,  cap.  8.— Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  27.— Spotorno,  Memo- 
rials of  Columbus,  pp.  31-33.— The  last 
dates  the  application  to  Genoa  prior  to 
that  to  Portugal. 

A letter  from  the  duke  of  Medina  Celi 
to  the  cardinal  of  Spain,  dated  19th 
March,  1493,  refers  to  his  entertaining 
Columbus  as  his  guest  for  two  years.  It 
is  very  difficult  to  determine  the  date  of 
these  two  years.  If  Herrera  is  correct  in 
the  statement,  that,  after  a five  years’ 
residence  at  court,  whose  commence- 
ment he  had  previously  referred  to  1484, 
he  carried  his  proposals  to  the  duke  of 
Medina  Celi,  (see  cap.  7,  8,)  the  two  years 
may  have  intervened  between  1489-1491. 
Navarrete  places  them  between  the  de- 
parture from  Portugal,  and  the  first  appli- 
cation to  the  court  of  Castile,  in  1486. 
Some  other  writers,  and  among  them 
Munoz  and  Irving,  referring  his  applica- 
tion to  Genoa  to  1485,  and  his  first  appear- 
ance in  Spain  subsequent  to  that  date, 
make  no  provision  for  the  residence  with 
the  duke  of  Medina  Celi.  Mr.  Irving  in- 
deed is  betrayed  into  a chronological  in- 
accuracy, in  speaking  of  a seven  years’ 
residence  at  the  court  in  1491,  which  he 
had  previously  noticed  as  having  before 
begun  in  1486.  (Life  of  Columbus,  (Lon- 
don, 1828,)  comp.  vol.  i.  pp.  109,  141.)  In 
fact,  the  discrepancies  among  the  earli- 
est authorities  are  such  as  to  render 
hopeless  any  attempt  to  settle  with  pre- 


478 


PART  I.— EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


[CH.  XVII. 


cision  the  chronology  of  Columbus’s 
movements  previous  to  his  first  voyage 

20  Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  viii. 
pp.  129,  130.— Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  31.— Herrera,  Indias 
Occidentales,  dec.  1,  lib.  1,  cap.  8.— Na- 
varrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom.  i., 
introd.,  sec.  60. 

21  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  dec.  1, 
lib.  1,  cap.  8.— Primer  Viage  de  Colon, 
apud  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
tom.  i.  pp.  2,  117.— Fernando  Colon,  Hist, 
del  Almirante,  cap.  13. 

22  Munoz,  Hist,  del  Neuvo-Mundo,  lib. 
2,  sec.  28,  29.  —Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del 
Almirante,  ubi  supra. 

23  Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  dec.  1, 
lib.  1,  cap.  8.— Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  32,  33.— Fernando 
Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  cap.  14.— Go- 
mara,  Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  15. 

24  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom. 
ii.,  Col.  Diplomat.,  nos.  5,  6.— Zuniga, 
Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  412* — Mariana, 
Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  p.  605. 

25  Peter  Martyr,  De  Rebus  Oceanicis 
et  Novo  Orbe,  (Colonise,  1574,)  dec.  1,  lib. 
1.— Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom. 
ii.,  Col.  Diplomat.,  nos.  7,  8,  9,  10,  12.— 
Herrera,  Inaias  Occidentales,  dec.  1,  lib. 
1,  cap.  9.— Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Al- 
mirante, cap.  14. — Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nue- 
vo-Mundo,  lib.  2,  sec.  33.— Benzoni,  Novi 
Orbis  Hist.,  lib.  1,  cap.  6.— Gomara,  Hist, 
de  las  Indias,  cap.  15. 

The  expression  in  the  text  will  not 
seem  too  strong,  even  admitting  the  pre- 
vious discoveries  of  the  Northmen,  which 
were  made  in  so  much  higher  latitudes. 
Humboldt  has  well  shown  the  probabil- 
ity, a priori,  of  such  discoveries,  made 
in  a narrow  part  of  the  Atlantic,  where 
the  Orcades,  the  Feroe  Islands,  Iceland, 
and  Greenland  afforded  the  voyager  so 
many  intermediate  stations,  at  moderate 
distances  from  each  other.  (Geographic 
du  Nouveau  Continent,  tom.  ii.  pp.  183  et 
seq.)  The  publication  of  the  original 
Scandinavian  MSS.,  (of  which  imperfect 
notices  and  selections,  only,  have  hither- 
to found  their  way  into  the  world,)  by 
the  Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiqua- 
ries, at  Copenhagen,  is  a matter  of  the 
deepest  interest;  and  it  is  fortunate,  that 
it  is  to  be  conducted  under  auspices, 
which  must  insure  its  execution  in  the 
most  faithful  and  able  manner.  It  may 
be  doubted,  however,  whether  the'declar- 
ation  of  the  Prospectus,  that  “ it  was 
the  knowledge  of  the  Scandinavian  voy- 


ages, in  all  probability,  which  prompted 
the  expedition  of  Columbus,”  can  ever  be 
established.  His  personal  history  fur- 
nishes strong  internal  evidence  to  the 
contrary. 

26  How  strikingly  are  the  forlorn  con- 
dition and  indomitable  energy  of  Co- 
lumbus depicted  in  the  following  noble 
verses  of  Chiabrera ; 

“ Certo  da  cor,  ch1  alto  destin  non 

scelse, 

Son!  imprese  magnanime  neglette; 

Ma  le  bell’  alme  alle  bell’  opre  elette 

Sanno  gioir  nelle  f atiche  eccelse ; 

Ne  biasmo  popolar,  frale  catena, 

Spirto  d’  onore,  il  suo  cammin  ref- 
frena. 

Cos!  lunga  stagion  per  modi  indegni 

Europa  disprezzb  1’  inclita  speme, 

Schernendo  il  vulgo,  e seco  i Regi  in- 
sieme, 

Nudo  nocchier,  promettitor  di  Eegni .” 
Rime,  parte  1,  canzone  12. 

27  Columbus,  in  a letter  written  on  his 
third  voyage,  pays  an  honest  heartfelt 
tribute  to  the  effectual  patronage  which 
he  experienced  from  the  queen.  “ In  the 
midst  of  the  general  incredulity,”  says 
he,  “ the  Almighty  infused  into  the  queen, 
my  lady,  the  spirit  of  intelligence  and 
energy;  and,  whilst  everyone  else,  in  his 
ignorance,  was  expatiating  only  on  the  in- 
convenience and  cost,  her  Highness  ap- 
proved it,  on  the  contrary,  and  gave  it 
all  the  support  in  her  power.”  See  Carta 
al  Ama  del  Principe  D.  Juan,  apud  Na- 
varrete, Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom.  i.  p. 
266. 

PART  I. — CHAPTER  XVII. 

1 It  is  a proof  of  the  high  consideration 
in  which  such  Israelites  as  were  willing 
to  embrace  Christianity  were  held,  that 
three  of  that  number,  Alvarez,  Avila,  and 
Pulgar,  were  private  secretaries  of  the 
queen.  (Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom. 
vi.  Ilust.  18.) 

An  incidental  expression  of  Martyr’s, 
among  many  similar  ones  by  contem- 
poraries, affords  the  true  key  to  the  pop- 
ular odium  against  the  Jews.  “ Cum 
namque  viderent,  Judaeorum  tabido 
commercio,  qui  hac  hora  sunt  in  His- 
pania  innumeri  Christianis  ditiores, 
plurimorum  animos  corrumpi  ac  seduci,” 
etc.  Opus  Epist.,  92. 

2 Paramo,  De  Origine  Inquisitionis,  p. 
164.— Llorente,  Hist,  de  Plnquisition, 
tom.  l.  cap.  7,  sec.  3. — Peter  Martyr, 
Opus  Epist.,  epist.  94.— Ferreras,  Hist, 
d Espagne,  tom.  viii.  p.  128. 


CH.  XVII.]  PART  I.— EXPULSION  OF  THE  JEWS. 


479 


3 Paramo,  De  Origine  Inquisitionis,  p. 
133. 

Salazar  de  Mendoza  refers  the  sover- 
eign’s consent  to  the  banishment  of  the 
Jews,  in  a great  measure,  to  the  urgent 
remonstrances  of  the  cardinal  of  Spain. 
The  bigotry  of  the  biographer  makes  him 
claim  the  credit  of  every  fanatical  act 
for  his  illustrious  hero.  See  Cron,  del 
Gran  Cardenal,  p.  250. 

4 Llorente,  Hist,  de  lTnquisition,  tom. 
i.  chap.  7,  sect.  5. 

Pulgar,  in  a letter  to  the  cardinal  of 
Spain,  animadverting  with  much  sever- 
ity on  the  tenor  of  certain  municipal 
ordinances  against  the  Jews  in  Guipuscoa 
and  Toledo,  in  1482,  plainly  intimates, 
that  they  were  not  at  all  to  the  taste  of 
the  queen.  See  Letras,  (Amstelodami, 
1670,)  let.  31. 

6 Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  ano  1492.— 
Recop.  de  las  Leyes,  lib.  8,  tit.  2,  ley  2.— 
Pragmaticas  del  Reyno,  ed.  1520,  fol.  3. 

6 The  Curate  of  Los  Palacios  speaks  of 
several  Israelites  worth  one  or  two  mill- 
ions of  mara vedies.  and  another  even  as 
having  amassed  ten.  He  mentions  one,  in 
particular,  by  the  name  of  Abraham,  as 
renting  the  greater  part  of  Castile  ! It 
will  hardly  do  to  take  the  good  Curate’s 
statement  d la  lettre.  See  Reyes  Cato- 
licos,  MS.,  cap.  112. 

7 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra. 

8 Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
10.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  v.  fol.  9. 

Capmany  notices  the  number  of  syna- 
gogues existing  in  Aragon,  in  1428,  as 
amounting  to  nineteen  In  Galicia  at 
the  same  time  there  were  but  three,  and 
in  Catalonia  but  one.  See  Mem.  de  Bar- 
celona, tom.  iv.  Apend.  num.  11 

9 Bernaldez,  Reyes  CatOlicos,  MS.,  cap. 
10.  113.— Ferreras,  Hist  d’Espagne,  tom. 
viii.  p.  131. 

10  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  v.  fol.  9. —Fer- 
reras, Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  viii.  p 133. — 
Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  ubi  supra.— 
La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iv.  p. 
95.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espaha,  tom.  ii.  p. 
602. 

11  Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne,  tom.  viii. 
p.  133.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  CatOlicos,  MS., 
cap.  113. 

12  Senarega,  apud  Muratori,  Rerum 
Ital.  Script.,  tom.  xxiv.  pp.  531,  532. 

13  See  a sensible  notice  of  Hebrew  lit- 
erature in  Spain,  in  the  Retrospective  Re- 
view, vol.  iii.  p.  209.— Mariana,  Hist,  de 
Espafia,  tom.  ii.  lib.  26,  cap.  1.— Zurita, 
Anales,  tom.  v.  fol.  9. 


Not  a few  of  the  learned  exiles  attained 
to  eminence  in  those  countries  of  Europe 
where  they  transferred  their  residence. 
One  is  mentioned  by  Castro  as  a leading 
practitioner  of  medicine  in  Genoa:  an- 
other, as  filling  the  posts  of  astronomer 
and  chronicler,  under  king  Emanuel  of 
Portugal.  Many  of  them  published  works 
in  various  departments  of  science,  which 
were  translated  into  the  Spanish  and 
other  European  languages.  Biblioteca 
Espanola,  tom.  i.  pp.  359-372. 

14  From  a curious  document  in  the 
Archives  of  Simancas , consisting  of  a 
report  made  to  the  Spanish  sovereigns 
by  their  accountant  general,  Quintanilla, 
in  1492,  it  would  appear,  that  the  popula- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  Castile,  exclusive 
of  Granada,  was  then  estimated  at  1,500,- 
000  vecinos , or  householders.  (See  Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  Apend.  no.  12.) 
This,  allowing  four  and  a half  to  a fam- 
ily, would  make  the  whole  population 
6.750,000.  It  appears  from  the  statement 
of  Bernaldez,  that  the  kingdom  of  Cas- 
tile contained  five  sixths  of  the  whole 
amount  of  Jews  in  the  Spanish  monarchy. 
This  proportion,  if  800,000  be  received  as 
the  total,  would  amount  in  round  num- 
bers to  670,000  or  ten  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  population  of  the  kingdom.  Now 
it  is  manifestly  improbable,  that  so  large 
a portion  of  the  whole  nation,  conspic- 
uous moreover  for  wealth  and  intelli- 
gence, could  have  been  held  so  light  in  a 
political  aspect,  as  the  Jews  certainly 
were,  or  have  tamely  submitted  for  so 
many  years  to  the  most  wanton  indigni- 
ties without  resistance;  or  finally,  that 
the  Spanish  government  w^ould  have  vent- 
ured on  so  bold  a measure  as  the  banish- 
ment of  so  numerous  and  powerful  a 
class,  and  that  too  with  as  few  precau- 
tions, apparently,  as  would  be  required 
for  driving  out  of  the  country  a roving 
gang  of  gipsies. 

15  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
110. — Llorente,  Hist,  de  1’Inquisition,  tom. 
i.  chap.  7,  sect.  7.— Mariana,  Hist,  de  Es- 
pana,  tom.  ii.  lib.  26.— Zurita,  Anales, 
tom.  v.  fol.  9. 

16  Bajazet.  See  Abarca,  Reyes  de  Ara- 
gon, tom.  ii.  p.  310.— Paramo,  De  Origine 
Inquisitionis,  p.  168. 

17  “ In  truth,”  father  Abarca  somewhat 
innocently  remarks,  “ King  Ferdinand 
was  a politic  Christian,  making  the  in- 
terests of  church  and  state  mutually  sub- 
servient  to  each  other  ” ! Reyes  de  Ara- 
gon, tom.  ii.  fol.  310. 


480 


PART  I.  —RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


[CH.  XVIII. 


18  Once  at  Toledo,  1480,  and  at  Murcia, 
1488.  See  Recop.  de  las  Leyes,  lib.  6,  tit. 
18,  ley  1. 

19  The  Portuguese  government  caused 
all  children  of  fourteen  years  of  age,  or 
under,  to  be  taken  from  their  parents 
and  retained  in  the  country,  as  fit  sub- 
jects for  a Christian  education.  The  dis- 
tress occasioned  by  this  cruel  provision 
may  be  well  imagined.  Many  of  the  un- 
happy  parents  murdered  their  children 
to  defeat  the  ordinance;  and  many  laid 
violent  hands  on  themselves.  Faria  y 
Sousa  coolly  remarks,  that  “It  was  a 
great  mistake  in  King  Emanuel  to  think 
of  converting  any  Jew  to  Christianity, 
old  enough  to  pronounce  the  name  of 
Moses!”  He  fixes  three  years  of  age  as 
the  utmost  limit.  (Europa  Portuguesa, 
tom.  ii.  p.  496.) 

Mr.  Turner  has  condensed,  with  his 
usual  industry,  the  most  essential  chron- 
ological facts  relative  to  modern  Jewish 
history,  into  a note  contained  in  the 
second  volume  of  his  History  of  England, 
pp.  114-129. 

20  They  were  also  ejected  from  Vienna, 
in  1669.  The  illiberal,  and  hideed  most 
cruel  legislation  of  Frederic  II.,  in  refer- 
ence to  his  Jewish  subjects,  transports 
us  back  to  the  darkest  periods  of  the 
Visigothic  monarchy.  The  reader  will 
find  a summary  of  these  enactments  in 
the  third  volume  of  Milman’s  agreeable 
History  of  the  Jews. 

21  The  accomplished  and  amiable  Flor- 
entine, Pico  di  Mirandola,  in  his  treatise 
on  Judicial  Astrology,  remarks  that,  “ the 
sufferings  of  the  Jews,  in  which  the 
glory  of  divine  justice  delighted,  were  so 
extreme  as  to  fill  us  Christians  with  com- 
miseration.” The  Genoese  historian, 
Senarega,  indeed  admits,  that  the  meas- 
ure savoured  of  some  slight  degree  of 
cruelty.  “ Res  haec  primo  conspectu 
laudabilis  visa  est,  quia  decus  nostrae  Re- 
ligionis  respiceret,  sed  aliquantulum  in 
se  crudelitatis  continere,  si  eos  non  bel- 
luas,  sed  homines  a Deo  creatos,  con- 
si  deravim  us.”  De  Rebus  Genuensibus, 
apud  Muratori,  Rerum  Ital.  Script.,  tom. 
xxiv.— Illescas,  Hist.  Pontif.,  apud  Para- 
mo, De  Origine  Inquisitionis,  p.  167. 

22  Llorente  sums  up  his  account  of  the 
expulsion,  by  assigning  the  following 
motives  to  the  principal  agents  in  the 
business.  4 ‘ The  measure, 1 he  says,  4 4 may 
be  referred  to  the  fanaticism  of  Torque- 
mada,  to  the  avarice  and  superstition  of 
Ferdinand,  to  the  false  ideas  and  incon- 


siderate zeal  with  which  they  had  in- 
spired Isabella,  to  whom  history  cannot 
refuse  the  praise  of  great  sweetness  of 
disposition,  and  an  enlightened  mind.” 
Hist,  de  lTnquisition,  tom.  i.  ch.  7,  sec.  10. 

PART  I. — CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1 Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  v.  fol.  13.— Ovie- 
do, Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1, 
dial.  28. 

2 Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  v.  fol.  15.— Ber- 
naldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap.  116.— 
Garibay,  Compendio,  tom.  ii.  pp.  678,  679. 
— Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  tom.  ii.  fol. 
315.— Carbajal,  Anales,  MS.,  afio  1492.-— 
Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc. 
4,  dial.  9. 

3 Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  125. 
— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  cap. 
116.— Abarca,  Reyes  de  Aragon,  ubi  su- 
pra. 

The  great  bell  of  Velilla,  whose  miracu- 
lous tolling  always  announced  some  dis- 
aster to  the  monarchy,  was  heard  to 
strike  at  the  time  of  this  assault  on  Fer- 
dinand, being  the  fifth  time  since  the  sub- 
version of  the  kingdom  by  the  Moors. 
The  fourth  was  on  the  assassination  of 
the  inquisitor  Arbues.  All  which  is  es- 
tablished by  a score  of  good  orthodox 
witnesses,  as  reported  by  Dr.  Diego  Dor- 
mer, in  his  Discursos  Varios,  pp.  296,  207. 

4 L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 
186.— Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist. 
125,  127, 131.— Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  v.  fol. 
16.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catolicos,  MS.,  loc. 
cit.— Garibay,  after  harrowing  the  read- 
er’s feelings  with  half  a column  of  in- 
human cruelties  inflicted  on  the  miserable 
man,  concludes  with  the  comfortable 
assurance,  “Pero  ahogaronle  primero 
por  clemencia  y misericordia  de  la  Rey- 
na.” (Compendio,  tom.  ii.  lib.  19,  can.  1.) 

A letter  written  by  Isabella  to  her  con- 
fessor, Fernando  de  Talavera,  during  her 
husband’s  illness,  shows  the  deep  anxiety 
of  her  own  mind,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
citizens  of  Barcelona,  at  his  critical  situa- 
tion, furnishing  abundant  evidence,  if  it 
were  needed,  of  her  tenderness  of  heart, 
and  the  warmth  of  her  conjugal  attach- 
ment. See  Correspondencia  Epistolar, 
apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
Ilust.  13. 

5 Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  dec.  1, 
lib.  2,  cap.  3.— Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
Mundo,  lib.  4,  sect.  13,  14. 

Columbus  concludes  a letter  addressed, 
on  his  arrival  at  Lisbon,  to  the  treasurer 


CH.  XVIII.  J 


PART  I. — RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


481 


Sanchez,  in  the  following  glowing  terms; 
“ Let  processions  be  made,  festivals  held, 
temples  be  tilled  with  branches  and  flow- 
ers, for  Christ  rejoices  on  earth  as  in 
Heaven,  seeing  the  future  redemption  of 
souls.  Let  us  rejoice,  also,  for  the  tem- 
poral benefit  likely  to  result,  not  merely 
to  Spain,  but  to  all  Christendom.”  See 
Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  apud  Navarrete, 
Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom.  i. 

6 Herrera,  Indias  Occidentales,  tom.  i. 
dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  2.— Primer  Viage  de 
Colon,  apud  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de 
Viages,  tom.  i.— Fernando  Colon,  Hist 
del  Almirante,  cap.  39. 

The  Portuguese  historian,  Faria  y 
Sousa,  appears  to  be  nettled  at  the  pros- 
perous issue  of  the  voyage ; for  he  testily 
remarks,  that  “ the  admiral  entered  Lis- 
bon with  a vainglorious  exultation,  in  or- 
der to  make  Portugal  feel,  by  displaying 
the  tokens  of  his  discovery,  how  much 
she  had  erred  in  not  acceding  to  his  prop- 
ositions.” Europa  Portuguesa,  tom.  ii. 
pp.  462,  463. 

7 My  learned  friend,  Mr.  John  Picker 
ing.  has  pointed  out  to  me  a passage  in  a 
Portuguese  author,  giving  some  particu- 
lars of  Columbus’s  visit  to  Portugal.  The 
passage,  which  I have  not  seen  noticed 
by  any  writer,  is  extremely  interesting, 
coming,  as  it  does,  from  a person  high  in 
the  royal  confidence,  and  an  eyewitness 
of  what  he  relates.  “ In  the  year  1493,  on 
the  sixth  day  of  March,  arrived  in  Lisbon 
Christopher  Columbus,  an  Italian,  who 
came  from  the  discovery,  made  under 
the  authority  of  the  sovereigns  of  Cas- 
tile, of  the  islands  of  Cipango  and  Antilia; 
from  which  countries  he  brought  with 
him  the  first  specimens  of  the  people,  as 
well  as  of  the  gold  and  other  things  to  be 
found  there ; and  he  was  entitled  admiral 
of  them.  The  king,  being  forthwith  in- 
formed of  this,  commanded  him  into  his 
presence;  and  appeared  to  be  annoyed 
and  vexed,  as  well  from  the  belief  that 
the  said  discovery  was  made  within  the 
seas  and  boundaries  of  his  seigniory  of 
Guinea, — which  might  give  rise  to  dis- 
putes,—as  because  the  said  admiral,  hav- 
ing become  somewhat  haughty  by  his 
situation,  and  in  the  relation  of  his  ad- 
ventures always  exceeding  the  bounds  of 
truth,  made  this  affair,  as  to  gold,  silver, 
and  riches,  much  greater  than  it  was. 
Especially  did  the  king  accuse  himself 
of  negligence,  in  having  declined  this  en- 
terprise, when  Columbus  first  came  to  ask 
his  assistance,  from  want  of  credit  and 


confidence  in  it.  And,  notwithstanding 
the  king  was  importuned  to  kill  him  on 
the  spot;  since  with  his  death  the  prose- 
cution of  the  undertaking,  as  far  as  the 
sovereigns  of  Castile  were  concerned, 
would  cease,  from  want  of  a suitable  per- 
son to  take  charge  of  it;  and  notwith- 
standing this  might  be  done  without  sus- 
picion of  the  king’s  being  privy  to  it, — 
for  inasmuch  as  the  admiral  was  over- 
bearing and  puffed  up  by  his  success, 
they  could  easily  bring  it  about,  that  his 
own  indiscretion  should  appear  the  oc- 
casion of  his  death,— yet  the  king,  as  he 
was  a prince  greatly  fearing  God,  not 
only  forbade  this,  but  even  showed  the 
admiral  honor  and  much  favor,  and 
therewith  dismissed  him.  ’ ’ Ruy  de  Pina, 
Chronica  d’el  Rei  Dom  Joao  II.,  cap.  66, 
apud  Collecgao  de  Livros  Ineditos  de 
Historia  Portugueza,  (Lisboa,  1790-93,) 
tom.  ii. 

8 Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante, 
cap.  40,  41. — Charlevoix,  Histoire  de  S. 
Domingue,  (Paris,  1730,)  tom.  i.  pp.  84-90. 
—Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  apud  Navar- 
rete, Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom.  i.— La, 
Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iv.  pp.  53- 
58. 

Columbus  sailed  from  Spain  on  Friday, 
discovered  land  on  Friday,  and  reentered 
the  port  of  Palos  on  Friday.  These 
curious  coincidences  should  have  suf- 
ficed, one  might  think,  to  dispel,  espe- 
cially with  American  mariners,  the  su- 
perstitious dread,  still  so  prevalent,  of 
commencing  a voyage  on  that  ominous 
day. 

9 Primer  Viage  de  Colon,  Let.  2. 

10  Munoz,  Hist,  del  Neuvo-Mundo,  lib. 
4,  sec.  14.  —Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Al- 
mirante, cap.  41. 

Among  other  specimens,  was  a lump 
of  gold,  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  be 
fashioned  into  a vessel  for  containing  the 
host;  “ thus,”  says  Salazar  de  Mendoza, 
“ converting  the  first  fruits  of  the  new 
dominions  to  pious  uses.”  Monarquia, 
pp.  351,  352. 

11  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  133, 
134,  140.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Cat61icos, 
MS.,  cap.  118.— Ferreras,  Hist.  d’Espagne, 
tom.  viii.  pp.  141,  142. — Fernando  Colon, 
Hist,  del  Almirante,  ubi  supra.— Zuniga, 
Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  413.— Gomara, 
Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  17. — Benzoni, 
Novi  Orbis  Hist.,  lib.  1,  cap.  8,  9.— Gallo, 
apud  Muratori  Rerum  Ital.  Script.,  tom. 
xxiii.  p.  203. 

12  Herrera,  Indias  Occidental.,  tom.  i. 


482 


PART  I. — RETURN  OF  COLUMBUS. 


[CH.  XVIII. 


dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  3.— Munoz,  Hist,  del 
Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4,  sec.  15,  16,  17.— Fer- 
nando Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante,  ubi 
supra. 

13  In  a letter,  written  soon  after  the 
admiral’s  return,  Martyr  announces  the 
discovery  to  his  correspondent,  cardinal 
Sforza,  in  the  following  manner.  “ Mira 
res  ex  eo  terrarum  orbe,  quem  sol  hora- 
rum  quatuor  et  viginti  spatio  circuit,  ad 
nostra  usque  tempora,  quod  minime  te 
latet,  trita  cognitaque  dimidia  tantum 
pars,  ab  Aurea  utpote  Chersoneso,  ad 
Gades  nostras  Hispanas,  reliqua  vero  a 
cosmographis  pro  incognita  relicta  est. 
Et  si  quae  mentio  facta,  ea  tenuis  et  in- 
certa.  Nunc  autem,  o beatum  facinus! 
meorum  regum  auspiciis,  quod  latuit 
hactenus  a rerum  primordio,  intelligi 
coeptum  est.”  In  a subsequent  epistle  to 
the  learned  Pomponio  Leto,  he  breaks 
out  in  a strain  of  warm  and  generous 
sentiment.  “ Prae  laetitia  prosiliisse  te, 
vixque  a lachrymis  prae  gaudio  tempe- 
rasse,  quando  literas  adspexisti  mens, 
quibus  de  Antipodum  Orbe  latenti  hac- 
tenus, te  certiorem  feci,  mi  suavissime 
Pomponi,  insinuasti.  Ex  tuis  ipse  literis 
colligo,  quid  senseris.  Sensisti  autem, 
tantique  rem  fecisti,  quanti  virum  summa 
doctrine  insignitum  decuit.  Qui?  nam- 
que  cibus  sublimibus  praestari  potest  in- 
geniis  isto  suavior  ? quod  condimentum 
gravius?  a mefacio  conjecturam.  Beari 
sentio  spiritus  meos,  quando  accitos  allo- 
quor  prudentes  aliquos  ex  his  qui  ab  e& 
redeunt  provincial.  Implicent  animos 
pecuniarum  .cumulis  augendis  miseri 
avari,  libidinibus  obscaeni;  nostras  nos 
mentes,  postquam  Deo  pleni  aliquandiu 
fuerimus,  contemplando,  hujuscemodi 
rerum  notitia  dernulceamus.”  Opus 
Epist.,  epist.  121,  15.2. 

14  Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos,  MS.,  cap. 
118.— Gallo,  apud  Muratori,  Rerum  Ital. 
Script.,  tom,  xxiii.  p.  203.  — Gomara,  Hist, 
de  las  Indias,  cap.  18. 

Peter  Martyr  seems  to  have  received 
the  popular  inference,  respecting  the 
identity  of  the  new  discoveries  with  the 
East  Indies,  with  some  distrust.  “ In- 
sulas reperit  plures;  has  esse,  de  quibus 
fit  apud  cosmographos  mentio  extra 
Oceanum  Orientalem,  adjacentes  Indise 
arbitrantur.  Nec  inficior  ego  penitus, 
quamvis  sphaerae  magnitudo  aliter  sen- 
tire  videatur;  neque  enim  desunt  qui 
parvo  tractu  a finibus  Hispanis  distare 
littuc  Indicum.  putent.”  Opus  Epist., 
epist.  135. 


15  Herrera,  Indias  Occiden tales,  dec.  1, 
lib.  2,  cap.  3. — Benzoni,  Novi  Orbis  Hist., 
lib.  1,  cap.  8.— Gomara,  Hist,  de  las  In- 
dias, cap.  17.— Zuniga,  Annales  de  Se- 
villa, p.  413. — Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del 
Almirante,  ubi  supra. 

He  was  permitted  to  quarter  the  royal 
arms  with  his  own,  which  consisted  of  a 
group  of  golden  islands  amid  azure  bil- 
lows. To  these  were  afterwards  added 
five  anchors,  with  the  celebrated  motto, 
well  known  as  being  carved  on  his  sepul- 
chre. (See  Part  II.  Chap.  18.)  He  re- 
ceived besides,  soon  after  his  return,  the 
substantial  gratuity  of  a thousand  doblas 
of  gold,  from  the  royal  treasury,  and  the 
premium  of  10,000  maravedies,  promised 
to  the  person  who  first  described  land. 
See  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  Col. 
Diplom.,  nos.  20,  32,  33. 

16  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  tom. 
ii.  Col.  Diplom.,  no.  45.— Munoz,  Hist,  del 
Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4.  sec.  21. 

17  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
Col.  Diplom.,  nos,  33,  35, 45.— Herrera,  In- 
dias Occiden  tales,  dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  4.— 
Munoz,  Hist  del  Nuevo-Mundo,  lib.  4,  sec. 
21. 

18  See  the  original  instructions,  apud 
Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  Col.  Di- 
plom., no.  45.— Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
Mundo,  lib.  4,  sec.  22.— Zuniga,  Annales 
de  Sevilla,  p.  413. 

L.  Marineo  eagerly  claims  the  conver- 
sion of  the  natives,  as  the  prime  object  of 
the  expedition  with  the  sovereigns,  far 
outweighing  all  temporal  considerations. 
The  passage  is  worth  quoting,  if  only  to 
show  what  egregious  blunders  a contem- 
porary may  make  in  the  relation  of 
events  passing,  as  it  were,  under  his  own 
eyes.  “ The  Catholic  sovereigns  having 
subjugated  the  Canaries,  and  established 
Christian  worship  there,  sent  Peter  Colon, 
with  thirty-five  ships,  called  caravels,  and 
a great  number  of  men  to  other  much 
larger  islands  abounding  in  mines  of 
gold,  not  so  much,  however,  for  the  sake 
of  the  gold,  as  for  the  salvation  of  the 
poor  heathen  natives.”  Cosas  Memory 
bles,  fol.  161. 

1 9 See  copies  of  the  original  documeir 
apud  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
tom.  ii.,  Col.  Diplom.,  nos.  39,  41,  42,  43. 

20  Herrera,  Indias  Occiden  tales,  dec.  1, 
lib.  2,  cap.  4.  -Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
Mundo,  lib.  4,  sec.  18. 

21  A point  south  of  the  meridian  is 
something  new  in  geometry ; yet  so  says 
the  bull  of  his  Holiness.  “Omnes  insu- 


CH.  XIX.] 


PART  I. — CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


483 


las  et  terras  fhmas  inventas  et  invenien- 
das,  detectas  et  detegendas,  versus  Occi- 
dentem  et  meridiem,  fabricando  et  con- 
stituendo  unam  lineam  a Polo  Arctico, 
scilicet  septentrione,  ad  Polum  Antarcti- 
cum,  scilicet  meridiem.” 

22  See  the  original  papal  grants,  trans- 
cribed by  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages, 
tom.  ii.,  Col.  Diplom.,  nos.  17,  18.  Ap- 
pendice  al  Col.  Diplom.,  no.  11. 

23  Padre  Abarca  considers  “ that  the 
discovery  of  a new  world,  first  offered  to 
the  kings  of  Portugal  and  England,  was 
reserved  by  Heaven  for  Spain,  being 
forced , in  a manner,  on  Ferdinand,  in 
recompense  for  the  subjugation  of  the 
Moors,  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews!  ” 
Reyes  de  Aragon,  fol.  310,  311. 

24  La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iv. 
pp.  £3-58. 

25  Faria  y Sousa,  Europa  Portuguesa, 
tom.  ii.  p.  4G3.— -Herrera,  Indias  Occiden- 
tales,  loc.  cit. — Munoz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo- 
Mundo,  lib.  4,  sec.  27,  28.— Mariana, 
Hist,  de  Espafia,  tom.  ii.  pp.  00G,  G07.— 
La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iv.  pp. 
53-58. 

2C  Zuniga,  Annales  de  Sevilla,  p.  413.— 
Fernando  Colon,  Hist,  del  Almirante, 
cap.  44.— Bernaldez,  Reyes  Catdlicos, 
MS.,  cap.  118.— Peter  Martyr,  De  Rebus 
Oceanicis,  dec.  1,  lib.  1.— Benzoni,  Novi 
Orbis  Historia,  lib.  1,  cap.  9. — Gomara, 
Hist,  de  las  Indias,  cap.  20. 

La  CRde,  Hist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iv. 
pp.  53-58.— Mufioz,  Hist,  del  Nuevo  Mun- 
do.  lib.  4,  sec.  27,  28. 

28  Navarrete,  Coleccion  de  Viages,  Doc. 
Diplom.,  no.  75.— Faria  y Sousa,  Europa 
Portuguesa,  tom.  ii.  p.  4C3.— Herrera,  In- 
dias Occidentales,  dec.  1,  lib.  2,  cap.  8.  10. 
—Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espaha,  tom.  ii.  pp. 
GOG,  G07.— La  Clede,  Hist,  de  Portugal, 
tom.  iv.  pp.  80-G2,  Zurita,  Anales,  tom.  v. 
fol.  31. 

26  The  contested  territory  was  the  Mo- 
lucca islands,  which  each  party  claimed 
tor  itself,  by  virtue  of  the  treaty  of  Tor- 
desillas.  After  more  than  one  congress, 
in  which  all  the  cosmographical  science 
of  the  dav  was  put  in  reouisition,  the  af- 
fair was  terminated  d V amiable,  by  the 
Spanish  government’s  relinquishing  its 
pretensions,  in  consideration  of  350.000 
ducet<3.  mid  bv  the  court  of  Lisbon.  See 
La  Cl  Me.  Fist,  de  Portugal,  tom.  iv.  pp. 
309.  401.  402.  480.— Mariana.  Hist,  de  Es- 
pafia. tom.  ii.  pp.  607,  875. — Salazar  de 
Mendoza,  Monarquia,  tom.  ii.  pp.  205, 
206. 


PART  I. — CHAPTER  XIX. 

1 L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 

153. 

2 L.  Marineo,  Cosas  Memorables,  fol. 

154,  182. 

3 Carro  de  las  Donas,  lib.  2,  cap.  62  et 
seq.,  apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist., 
tom.  vi.  Ilust,  21.— Pulgar,  Letras,  (Am- 
stelodami,  1G70,)  let.  11.— L.  Marineo,  Co- 
sas Memorables,  fol.  182.— It  is  sufficient 
evidence  of  her  familiarity  with  the  Latin, 
that  the  letters  addressed  to  her  by  her 
confessor  seem  to  have  been  written  in 
that  language  and  the  Castilian  indiffer- 
ently, exhibiting  occasionally  a curious 
patchwork  in  the  alternate  use  of  each  in 
the  same  epistle.  See  Correspondencia 
Epistolar,  apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist., 
tom.  vi.  Ilust.  13. 

4 Previous  to  the  introduction  of  print- 
ing, collections  of  books  were  necessarily 
very  small  and  thinly  scattered,  owing  to 
the  extreme  cost  of  manuscripts.  The 
learned  Saez  has  collected  some  curious 
particulars  relative  to  this  matter.  The 
most  copious  library  which  he  could  find 
any  account  of,  in  the  middle  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  was  owned  by  the  counts 
of  Benavente,  and  contained  not  more 
than  one  hundred  and  twenty  volumes. 
Many  of  these  were  duplicates;  of  Livy 
alone  there  were  eight  copies.  The  ca- 
thedral churches  in  Spain  rented  their 
books  every  year  by  auction  to  the  high- 
est bidders,  whence  they  derived  a con- 
siderable revenue. 

It  would  appear  from  a copy  of  Gra- 
tian’s  Canons,  preserved  in  the  Celestine 
monastery  in  Paris,  that  the  copyist  was 
engaged  twenty-one  months  in  transcrib- 
ing that  manuscript.  At  this  rate,  the 
production  of  four  thousand  copies  by 
one  hand  would  require  nearly  eight 
thousand  years,  a work  now  easily  per- 
formed in  less  than  four  months.  Such 
was  the  tardiness  in  multiplying  copies 
before  the  invention  of  printing.  Two 
thousand  volumes  maybe  procured  now 
at  a price,  which  in  those  days  would 
hardly  have  sufficed  to  purchase  fifty. 
SeeTratado  de  Monedas  de  Enrique  III., 
apud  Moratin,  Obras,  ed.  de  la  Acad., 
(Madrid,  1820,)  tom.  i.  pp.  91,  92. 

3 Navaeiero.  Viaggio  fatto  in  Spagna  et 
in  Francia.  (Vinegia,  1563,)  fol.  £3. -Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust.  17. 

The  largest  collection  comprised  about 
two  hundred  and  one  articles,  or  distinct 
works.  Of  these,  about  a third  is  taken 


484 


PART  I.  — CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


[OH.  XIX. 


up  with  theology,  comprehending  bibles, 
psalters,  missals,  lives  of  saints,  and 
works  of  the  fathers;  one  fifth,  civil  law 
and  the  municipal  code  of  Spain;  one 
fourth,  ancient  classics,  modern  litera- 
ture, and  romances  of  chivalry;  one 
tenth,  history;  the  residue  is  devoted  to 
ethics,  medicine,  grammar,  astrology, 
&c.  The  only  Italian  author,  besides 
Leonardo  Bruno  d’ Arezzo,  is  Boccaccio. 
The  works  of  the  latter  writer  consisted 
of  the  “Fiammetta,”  the  treatises  “ De 
Casibus  Illustrium  Virorum,”  and  “ De 
Claris  Muli embus,”  and  probably  the 
‘Decameron”;  the  first  in  the  Italian, 
and  the  three  last  translated  into  the 
Spanish.  It  is  singular,  that  neither  of 
Boccaccio's  great  contemporaries,  Dante 
and  Petrarch,  the  former  of  whom  had 
been  translated  by  Villena,  and  imitated 
by  Juan  de  Mena,  half  a century  before, 
should  have  found  a place  in  the  collec- 
tion. 

6 Antonio,  the  eldest,  died  in  148S.  Part 
of  his  Latin  poetical  works,  entitled, 
“Sacred  Bucolics,”  was  printed  in  1505, 
at  Salamanca.  The  younger  brother,  Al- 
essandro, after  bearing  arms  in  the  Portu- 
guese war,  was  subsequently  employed 
in  the  instruction  of  the  infantas,  finally 
embraced  the  ecclesiastical  state,  and 
died  bishop  of  St.  Domingo,  in  1525.  Mem. 
de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust.  16.— 
Tiraboschi,  Letteratura  Italiana,  tom.  vi. 
part.  2,  p.  235. 

7 The  learned  Valencian,  LuisVives,  in 
his  treatise  “De  Christiana  Femina.,”  re- 
marks, “iEtas  noster  quatuor  illas  Isa- 
bella reginae  Alias,  quas  paullo  ante 
memoravi,  eruditas  vidit.  Non  sine  laud- 
ibus  et  admiratione  refertur  mihi  passim 
in  hac  terra  Joannam,  Philippi  conjugem, 
Caroli  hujus  matrem,  extempore  latinis 
orationibus,  quae  de  more  apud  novos 
principes  oppidatim  habentur,  latine  re- 
spondisse.  Idem  de  regin.1  sua,  Joannae 
sorore,  Britanni  predicant;  idem  omnes 
de  duabus  aliis,  quae  in  Lusitania  fato 
concessere.”  (De  Christiana  Femina, 
cap.  4,  apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist., 
tom.  vi.  Ilust.  16.)— It  appears,  however, 
that  Isabella  was  not  inattentive  to  the 
more  humble  accomplishments,  in  the 
education  of  her  daughters.  “ Regina,” 
says  the  same  author,  “nere,  suere,  acu 
pingere  quatuor  Alias  suas  doctas  esse 
voluit.”  Another  contemporary,  the  au- 
thor of  the  Carro  de  las  Donas,  (lib.  2, 
cap.  62,  apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist., 
Ilust.  21.)  says,  “ she  educated  her  son  and 


daughters,  giving  them  masters  of  life 
and  letters,  and  surrounding  them  with 
such  persons  as  tended  to  make  them 
vessels  of  election,  and  kings  in  Heaven.” 

Erasmus  notices  the  literary  attain- 
ments of  the  youngest  daughter  of  the 
sovereigns,  the  unfortunate  Catharine  of 
Aragon,  with  unqualified  admiration.  In 
one  of  his  letters,  he  styles  her  “ egregie 
doctam  ” ; and  in  another  he  remarks, 
“ Regina  non  tantum  in  sexus  miraculum 
literata  est;  nec  minus  pietate  suspicien- 
da,  quam  eruditione.”  Epistolae,  (Lon- 
dini,  1642,)  lib.  19,  epist.  31;  lib.  2,  epist. 
24. 

8 Oviedo,  Quineuagenas,  MS.,  dial,  de 
Deza— Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom. 
vi.  Ilust.  14. 

9 Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
Ilust.  14. 

Juan  de  la  Encina,  in  the  dedication  to 
the  prince,  of  his  translation  of  Virgil’s 
Bucolics,  pays  the  following  compliment 
to  the  enlightened  and  liberal  taste  of 
Prince  John.  “ Favoreseeis  tanto  la  sci- 
encia  andando  acompanado  de  _ -„os  e 
tan  doctisimos  varones,  que  i . menos 
dejareis  perdurable  memoria  de  haber 
alargado  e estendido  los  limites  e tdrmi- 
nos  de  la  scienciaque  los  del  imperio.” 
The  extraordinary  promise  of  this  young 
prince,  made  his  name  known  in  distant 
parts  of  Europe,  and  his  untimely  death, 
which  occurred  in  the  twentieth  year  of 
his  age,  was  commemorated  by  an  epi- 
taph of  the  learned  Greek  exile,  Constan- 
tine Lascaris. 

10  “ Aficionados  & la  guerra,”  says 
Oviedo,  speaking  of  some  young  nobles 
of  his  time,  “por  su  Espanola  y natural 
inclination."  Quineuagenas,  MS.,  bat.  1, 
quinc.  1,  dial.  36. 

11  For  some  account  of  this  eminent 
Italian  scholar,  see  the  postscript  to  Part 
I.  Chap.  14,  of  this  History. 

12  Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  102, 
103. 

Lucio  Marineo,  in  a discourse  addressed 
to  Charles  V.,  thus  notices  the  queen’s 
solicitude  for  the  instruction  of  her 
young  nobility.  “Isabella  praesertim 
Regina  magnanima,  virtutum  omnium 
maxima  cultrix.  Quse  quidem  multis  et 
magnis  occupata  negotiis,  ut  aliis  exem- 
plum  praeberet,  a primis  grammaticse 
rudimentis  studere  coepit,  et  omnes  suae 
domus  adolescentes  utriusque  sexus  nobil- 
ium  liberos,  praeceptoribus  liberaliter  et 
honorifice  conductis  erudiendos  commen* 
dabat.”  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom. 


OH.  XIX.] 


PART  I. — CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


4b5 


vi.  Apend.  1G.— Sec  also  Oviedo,  Quincua- 
genas,  MS.,  bat.,  1,  quinc.  1,  dial.  36. 

13  Peter  Martyr,  OpusEpist.,  epist.  115. 

14  A particular  account  of  Marineo’s 
writings  may  be  found  in  Nic.  Antonio. 
(Bibliothec  a Nova,  tom.  ii.  Apend.  p.  339.) 
The  most  important  of  these,  is  his  work 
“De  Rebus  Hispaniae  Memorabilibus,” 
often  cited,  in  the  Castilian,  in  this  His- 
tory. It  is  a rich  repository  of  details  re- 
specting the  geography,  statistics,  and 
manners  of  the  Peninsula,  with  a copious 
historical  notice  of  events  in  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella’s  reign.  The  author’s  insa- 
tiable curiosity,  during  a long  residence 
in  the  country,  enabled  him  to  collect 
many  facts,  of  a kind  that  do  not  fall 
within  the  ordinary  compass  of  history; 
while  his  extensive  learning,  and  his 
familiarity  with  foreign  models, peculiarly 
qualified  him  for  estimating  the  institu- 
tions he  describes.  It  must  be  confessed 
he  is  sufficiently  partial  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption.  The  edition,  referred  to  in 
this  work,  is  in  black  letter,  printed  be- 
fore, or  soon  after,  the  author’s  death 
(the  date  of  which  is  uncertain),  in  1539, 
at  Alcald  de  Henares,  by  Juan  Brocar, 
one  of  a family  long  celebrated  in  the 
annals  of  Castilian  printing.  Marineo’s 
prologue  concludes  with  the  following 
noble  tribute  to  letters.  “ Porque  todos 
los  otros  bienes  son  subjectos  a la  fortuna 
y mudables  y en  poco  tiempo  mudan 
muchos  duenos  passandcde  unos  senores 
en  otros,  mas  los  dones  de  letras  y hys- 
torias  que  se  cfrescon  para  perpetuidad 
de  memoria  y fama  son  immortales  y 
prorogan  y guardan  para  siempre  la 
memoria  assi  de  los  que  los  reciben, 
como  de  los  que  los  ofrescen.” 

15  Sepulveda,  Democrites,  apud  Mem. 
dela  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  Ilust.  16.— 
Signorelli,  Coltura  nelle  Sicilie,  tom.  iv. 
p.  318.— Tiraboschi,  Letteratura  Italiana, 
tom.  vii.  part.  3,  lib.  3,  cap.  4.— Comp. 
Lampillas,  Saggio  Storico-Apologetico  de 
la  Letteratura  Spagnuola,  (Genova,  1778,) 
tom.  ii.  dis.  2,  sect  5.— The  patriotic 
Abate  is  greatly  scandalized  by  the  de. 
gree  of  influence,  which  Tiraboschi  and 
other  Italian  critics  aserfbq  to  their  own 
language  over  the  Castilian,  especially 
at  this  period.  The  seven  volumes,  in 
which  he  has  discharged  his  bile  on  the 
heads  of  the  offenders,  afford  valuable 
materials  for  the  historian  of  Spanish 
literature.  Tiraboschi  must  be  admitted 
to  have  the  better  of  his  antagonist  in 
temper,  if  not  in  argument. 


1 8  Among  these  we  find  copious  trans- 
lations from  the  ancient  classics,  as 
Caesar,  Appian,  Plutarch,  Plautus,  Sal- 
lust, ^Esop,  Justin,  Boethius,  Apulius, 
Herodian,  affording  strong  evidence  of 
'.he  activity  of  the  Castilian  scholars  in 
this  department.  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de 
Hist.,  tom.  vi.  pp.  406,  407.— Mendez,  Ty- 
pography Espafiola,  pp.  133,  139. 

17  Salazar  de  Mendoza,  Dignidades, 
cap.  21. 

Lucio  Marineo  Siculo,  in  his  discourse 
above  alluded  to,  in  which  he  exhibits 
the  condition  ol  letters  under  the  reign 
of  Ferdinand  r,nci  Isabella,  enumerates 
the  names  of  nobility  most  conspicu- 
ous for  th Ji:  scholarship.  This  valuable 
document  was  to  be  found  only  in  the 
edition  of  Marineo’s  work,  “ De  Rebus 
Hispaniae  Memorabilibus,”  printed  at 
Alcaic,  in  1630,  whence  it  has  been  trans- 
ferred by  Clemencin  to  the  sixth  volume 
of  the  Memoirs  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
History.  . 

18  His  work  “Guerra  de  Granada.” 
was  first  published  at  Madrid,  in  1610, 
and  “may  be  compared,”  says  Nic. 
Antonio,  in  a judgment  which  has  been 
ratified  by  the  general  consent  of  his 
countrymen,  “ with  the  compositions  of 
Sallust,  or  any  other  ancient  historian.” 
His  poetry  and  his  celebrated  picaresco 
novel  “ Lazarillode  Tormes,”  have  made 
an  epoch  in  the  ornamental  literature  of 
Spain. 

19  Oviedo  has  devoted  one  of  his  dia- 
logues to  this  nobleman,  equally  distin- 
guished by  his  successes  in  arms,  letters, 
and  love;  the  last  of  which,  according  to 
that  writer,  he  had  not  entirely  resigned 
at  the  age  of  seventy.— Quincuagenas, 
MS.,  bat.  1,  quinc.  1,  dial  28. 

20  For  an  account  of  Santillana,  see  the 
First  Chapter  of  this  History.  The  car- 
dinal, in  early  life,  is  said  to  have  trans- 
lated for  his  father  the  iEneid,  the  Odys- 
sey, Ovid,  Valerius  Maximus,  and  Sal- 
lust. (Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom. 
vi.  Ilust.  16.)  This  Herculean  feat  would 
put  modem  school-boys  to  shame,  and 
we  may  suppose  that  partial  versions 
only  of  these  authors  are  intended. 

21  Mem.  dela  Acad.de  Hist., tom.  vi. 
Ilust.  16.— Oviedo,  Quincuagenas,  MS., 
dial  le  Grizio. 

Senoi  Cl  m ncin  has  examined  with 
much  care  the  intellectual  culture  of  the 
nation  under  Isabella,  in  the  sixteenth 
Ilustracion  of  his  work.  He  has  touch 
ed  lightly  on  its  poetical  character,  con 


486 


PART  I. — CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


[CH.  XIX. 


sidering,  no  doubt,  that  this  had  been 
sufficiently  developed  by  other  critics. 
His  essay,  however,  is  rich  in  informa- 
tion in  regai  d to  the  scholarship  and 
severer  studies  of  the  period.  The 
reader,  who  Avould  pursue  the  inquiry 
still  further,  may  find  abundant  materi- 
als in  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Vetus, 
tom.  ii.  lib.  10,  cap.  13  et  seq.— Idem, 
Bibliotheca  Hispana  Nova,  (Matriti, 
1783-8,)— tom.  i.  ii.  passim. 

22  See  Part  I.  Chap.  8,  of  this  History. 

23  For  a notice  of  this  scholar,  see  the 
postscript  to  Part  I.  Chap.  11,  of  this 
History. 

24  Mendez,  Typographia  Espanola,  pp. 
271,  272. 

In  the  second  edition,  published  1482, 
the  author  states,  that  n j work  of  the 
time  had  a greater  circulation,  more 
than  a thousand  copies  of  it,  at  a high 
price,  having  been  disposed  of  in  the 
preceding  year.  Ibid.,  p.  237. 

25  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova, 
tom.  i.  pp.  132-130.—  Lampillas,  Lettera- 
tura  Spagnuola,  tom.  ii.  dis.  2,  sec.  3.— 
Dialogo  de  las  Lenguas,  apud  Mayans 
y Siscar,  Origenes,  (Madrid,  1737,)  tom. 
ii.  pp.  46,  4". 

Lucio  Marineo  pays  the  following 
elegant  compliment  to  this  learned 
Spaniard,  in  his  discourse  before  quoted. 
“ Amisit  nuper  Hispania  maximum  sui 
cultorem  in  re  litteraria,  Antonium  Ne- 
brissensem,  qui  primus  ex  Italia  in  His- 
paniam  Musas  adduxit,  quibuscum  bar- 
bariem  ex  sua  patria  fugavit,  et  Hispa- 
niam  totam  linguae  Latinae  lectionibus 
illustravit.”  “ Meruerat  id,”  says  Gomez 
de  Castro  of  Lebrija,  “ et  multo  majora 
hominis  eruditio,  cui  Hispania  debet, 
quicquid  habet  bonarum  literarum.” 

The  acute  author  of  the  “ Dialogo  de 
las  Lenguas,”  while  he  renders  ample 
homage  to  Lebrija’s  Latin  erudition,  dis 
putes  his  critical  acquaintance  with  his 
own  language,  from  his  being  a native 
of  Andalusia,  where  the  Castilian  was 
not  spoken  with  purity.  “ Hablaba  y 
escrivia  como  en  el  Andalucia  y no  como 
en  la  Castilla.”  p.  92.  See  also  pp.  9, 10, 
46,  53. 

26  Barbosa,  Bibliotheca  Lusitana,  (Lis- 
boa Occidental,  1741,)  tom.  i.  pp.  76-78.— 
Signorelli,  Coltura  nelle  Sicilie,  tom.  iv. 
pp.  315-321.— Mayans  y Siscar,  Origenes, 
tom.  i.  p.  173.— Lampillas,  Letteratura 
Spagnuola,  tom.  ii.  dis.  2,  sect.  5. — Nic. 
Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova.  tom.  i.  pp. 
170,  171. 


27  Among  these  are  particularly  de- 
serving of  attention  the  brothers  John 
and  Francis  Vergara,  professors  at  Al- 
cala, the  latter  of  whom  was  esteemed 
one  of  the  most  accomplished  scholars 
of  the  age;  Nunez  de  Guzman, . of  the 
ancient  house  of  that  name,  professor 
for  many  years  at  Salamanca  and  Alcala, 
and  the  author  of  the  Latin  version  in  the 
famous  Polyglot  of  Cardinal  Ximenes; 
he  left  behind  him  numerous  works,  es- 
pecially commentaries  on  the  classics; 
Olivario,  whose  curious  erudition  was 
abundantly  exhibited  in  his  illustrations 
of  Cicero  and  other  Latin  authors;  and 
lastly  Vives,  whose  fame  rather  belongs 
to  Europe  than  his  own  country,  who, 
when  only  twenty-six  years  old,  drew 
from  Erasmus*  the  encomium,  that 
“there  was  scarcely  any  one  of  the  age 
whom  he  could  venture  to  compare  with 
him  in  philosophy,  eloquence,  and  liberal 
learning.”  But  the  most  unequivocal 
testimony  to  the  deep  and  various  schol- 
arship of  the  period  is  afforded  by  that 
stupendous  literary  work  of  Cardinal 
Ximenes,  the  Polyglot  Bible,  whose  ver- 
sions in  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  oriental 
tongues  were  collated,  with  a single  ex- 
ception, by  Spanish  scholars.  Erasmus, 
Epistolae,  lib.  19,  epist.  101.— Lampillas, 
Letteratura  Spagnuola,  tom.  ii.  pp.  382- 
334,  495,  792-794;  tom.  ii.  p.  208  et  seq.— 
Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  fol.  37. 

28  Erasmus,  Epistolae,  p.  977. 

29  “ La  muy  esclarecida  ciudad  de 
Salamanca,  mad  re  de  las  artes  liberates, 
y todas  virtudes,  y ansi  de  cavalleros 
como  de  letrados  varones,  muy  ilustre.” 
Cosas  Memorables,  fol.  11.— Chacon,  Hist, 
de  la  Universidad  de  Salamanca,  apud 
Semanario  Erudito,  tom.  xviii.  pp.  1-61. 

30  “Academia  Complutensis,”  says 
Erasmus  of  this  university,  “non  aliunde 
celebritatem  nominis  auspicata  est  quam 
a complectendo  linguas  ac  bonas  literas. 
Cujus  prsecipuum  ornamentum  est  egre- 
gius  ille  senex,  planeque  dignus  qui  mui- 
tos  vincat  Nestoras,  Antonius  Nebrissen- 
sis.”  Epist.  ad  Ludovicum  Vivem,  1521. 
Epistolae,  p.  755. 

31  Cosas  Memorables,  ubi  supra.— 
Peter  Martyr,  Opus  Epist.,  epist.  57.— 
Gomez,  De  Rebus  Gestis,  lib.  4.— Chacon, 
Universidad  de  Salamanca,  ubi  supra. 

It  appears  that  the  practice  of  scraping 
with  the  feet  as  an  expression  of  disap- 
probation, familiar  in  our  universities,  is 
of  venerable  antiquity ; for  Martyr  men- 
tions. that  he  was  saluted  with  it  before 


CH.  XX.] 


PART  I.  —CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


487 


finishing  his  discourse  by  one  or  two  idle 
youths,  dissatisfied  with  its  length.  The 
lecturer,  however,  seems  to  have  given 
general  satisfaction,  for  he  was  escorted 
back  in  triumph  to  his  lodgings,  to  use 
his  own  language,  “ like  a victor  in  the 
Olympic  games,”  after  the  conclusion  of 
the  exercise. 

32  For  some  remarks  on  the  labors  of 
this  distinguished  jurisconsult,  see  Part 
I.  Chap.  6,  and  Part  II.  Chap.  26.  of  the 
present  work. 

33  The  most  remarkable  of  these  latter 
is  Herrera's  treatise  on  Agriculture, 
which,  since  its  publication  in  Toledo,  in 
1520,  has  passed  through  a variety  of 
editions  at  home,  and  translations 
abroad.  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova, 
tom.  i.  p.  503. 

34  This  collection,  with  the  ill  luck 
which  has  too  often  befallen  such  reposi  • 
tories  in  Spain,  was  burnt  in  the  war  of 
the  Communities,  in  the  time  of  Charles 
V.  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi. 
Ilust.  16.— Morales,  Obras,  tom.  vii.  p.  18. 
—Informe  de  Riol,  who  particularly  no- 
tices the  solicitude  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  for  preserving  the  public  docu- 
ments. 

35  Mendez,  Typograpliia  Espahola,  p. 

51. 

36  Archivo  de  Murcia,  apud  Mem.  de 
la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  vi.  p.  244. 

37  Mendez,  Typographia  Espahola,  pp. 

52,  332. 

36  OrdenanQas  Reales,  lib.  4,  tit.  4,  ley 
22.— The  preamble  of  this  statute  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  following  enlightened 
terms;  “ Considerando  los  Reyes  de 
gloriosa  memoria  quanto  era  provechoso 
y honroso,  que  a estos  sus  reynos  se 
truxessen  Iibros  de  otras  partes  para  que 
con  ellos  se  hiziessen  los  hombres  letra- 
dos,  quisieron  y ordenaron,  que  de  los 

Iibros  no  se  pagasse  el  alcavala 

Lo  qual  parece  que  re  lunda  en  prove- 
cho  universal  de  todos,  y en  ennobleci- 
miento  de  nuestros  Reynos.” 

39  Capmany,  Mem.  de  Barcelona,  tom. 
i.  part.  2,  lib.  2,  cap.  6.— Mendez,  Typo- 
graphia Espahola,  pp.  55,  C3. 

Bouterwek  intimates,  that  the  art  of 
printing  was  first  practised 'in  Spain  by 
German  :rinters  at  Seville,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixteenth  century.  (Bouter 
wek,  Geschichte  der  Poesie  und  Bered- 
samkeit,  (Gottingen,  1801-17.)  band  lii.  p. 
98.)— He  appears  to  have  been  misled  by 
a solitary  example  quoted  from  Mayans 
y Siscar.  The  want  of  materials  has 


more  than  once  led  this  eminent  critic  to 
build  sweeping  conclusions  on  slender 
premises. 

40  The  title  of  the  book  is  “ Certamen 
poetich  en  lohor  de  la  Concecio,”  Valen- 
cia, 1474,  4to.  The  name  of  the  printer 
is  wanting.  Mendez,  Typographia  Espa- 
hola, p.  56. 

41  Ibid.,  pp.  61-63. 

42  Mendez,  Typographia  Espahola,  pp. 
52,  53.— Pragmaticas  del  Reyno,  fol.  133, 
130. 

43  Llorente,  Hist,  de  l’lnquisition,  tom. 
i.  chap.  13,  art.  1. 

“Adempto  per  inquisitiones ,”  says 
Tacitus  of  the  gloomy  times  of  Domi- 
tian,  “et  loquendi  audiendique  com- 
mercio.”  (Vita  Agricolae,  sec.  2.)  Beau- 
marchais, in  a merrier  vein,  indeed, 
makes  the  same  bitter  reflections.  k 11 
s’est  ctabli  dans  Madrid  un  systeme  de 
liberte  sur  la  vente  des  productions,  qui 
s’etend  meme  h celles  de  la  presse;  et 
que,  pourvu  que  je  ne  parle  en  mes  ecrits 
ni  de  Tautorits,  ni  de  culte,  ni  de  la  poli- 
tique, ni  de  la  morale,  ni  des  gens  en 
place,  ni  des  corps  en  credit,  ni  de  l‘Ope- 
ra,  ni  des  autres  spectacles,  ni  de  person- 
ae qui  tienne  a quelque  chose,  je  puis 
tout  imprimer  librement,  sous  V inspec- 
tion de  deux  on  trois  censeurs.”  Ma- 
nage de  Figaro,  acte  5,  sc.  3. 

PART  I.— CHAPTER  XX. 

1 Eichhorn,  Geschichte  der  Kultur  und 
Litteratur  der  Neueren  Europa,  (Gottin- 
gen, 1796-1811,)  pp.  129,  130.— See  also  the 
conclusion  of  the  Introduction,  Sec.  2,  of 
this  History. 

2 Nic.  Antonio  seems  unwilling  to  re- 
linquish the  pretensions  of  his  own  na- 
tion to  the  authorship  of  this  romance. 
(See  Bibliotheca  Nova,  tom.  ii.  p.  304.) 
Later  critics,  and  among  them  Lampil- 
las,  (Ensayo  Historieo-Apologetico  de  la 
Literatura  Espahola,  (Madrid,  1189,-)  tom. 
v.  p.  168,)  who  resigns  no  more  than  he  is 
compelled  to  do,  are  less  disposed  to  con- 
test the  claims  of  the  Portuguese.  Mr. 
Southey  has  cited  two  documents,  one 
historical,  the  other  poetical,  which  seem 
to  place  its  composition  by  Lobeira  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century  be- 
yond any  reasonable  doubt.  (See  Ama- 
dis  of  Gaul,  pref.,— also  Sarmiento.  Me- 
rnorias  para  la  Historia  de  la  Poesiay 
Poetas  Espaholes,  Obras  Posthumas, 
(Madrid,  1775,)  tom.  i.  p.  239.)  Bouterwek, 
and  after  him  Sismondi,  without  adduc* 


488 


PART  I. — CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


ing  any  authority,  have  fixed  the  era  of 
Lobeira's  death  at  1325.  Dante,  who  died 
but  four  years  previous  to  that  date,  fur- 
nishes a negative  argument,  at  least, 
against  this,  since  in  his  notice  of  some  of 
the  best  books  of  chivalry  then  extant,  he 
makes  no  allusion  to  the  “ Amadis,”  the 
best  of  all.  Inferno,  canto  v. 

3 The  excellent  old  romance  “ Tirante 
the  White,”  Tirant  lo  Blanch , was  print- 
ed at  Valencia  in  1433.  (See  Mendez, 
Typographia  Espanola,  tom  i.  pp.  72-75.) 
If,  as  Cervantes  asserts,  the  “Amadis” 
was  the  first  book  of  chivalry  printed  in 
Spain,  it  must  have  been  anterior  to  this 
date.  This  is  rendered  probable  by  Mon- 
talvo’s* prologue  to  his  edition  at  Sar- 
agossa, in  1521,  still  preserved  in  the  roy- 
al library  at  Madrid,  where  he  alludes  to 
his  former  publication  of  it  in  the  time  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  (Cervantes, 
Don  Quixote,  ed.  Pellicer,  Discurso  Pre- 
lim.) 

Mr.  Dunlop,  who  lias  analyzed  these 
romances  with  a patience  that  more 
will  be  disposed  to  commend  than  im- 
itate, has  been  led  into  the  error  of  sup- 
posing that  the  first  edition  of  the  “ Ama- 
dis ” was  printed  at  Seville,  in  1526,  from 
detached  fragments  appearing  in  the 
time  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  sub- 
sequently by  Montalvo,  at  Salamanca,  in 
1547.  See  History  of  Prose  Fiction,  vol. 
ii.  chap.  10. 

4 The  following  is  Montalvo’s  brief 

prologue  > th^  introduction  of  the  first 
book.  “Aqvi  comienga  ^1  pr*  ~ ^ libro 

del  esforgado  virtuoso  eauallero  Ama- 
dis 'jo  J3l  Kiy  Perion  u Gaula:  y dela 
reyna  Elisena:  c.  qual  fue  coregido  y 
emendado  por  el  horn — to  y xl  ^30  cau- 
allero  ^-i^lordcues  de  Montalvo,  regi 
dor  dela  noble  ailla  de  Medina  del  campo; 
et  corregiole  u.  Ijs  antiguos  originales 
queestauan  corrupt,  ec  eompuestos  en 
antiguo  estilo : por  falta  delos  diferentes 
escriptores.  Quitando  muchas  palabras 
supeefiuas:  et  poniendo  otras  de  mas  poli- 
do.y  elegante  estilo:  toeantes  ala  caual- 
ieria  et  actos  della,  animando  los  cora- 
gones  gentiles  le  manzebos  belicosos  que 
con  grandissimo  affetto  abrazan  el  arte 
dela  milicia  corporal  animando  la  im- 
mortal memoria  del  arte  de  caualleria 
no  menos  honestissimo  que  glorioso.” 
Amadis  de  Gaula,  ( Venecia,  1533,)  fol.  1. 

5 Nie.  Antonio  enumerates  the  editions 
of  thirteen  of  this  doughty  family  of 
knights-errant.  (Bibliotheca  Nova,  tom. 
ii.  pp.  394, 395.)  He  dismisses  his  notice 


[CH.  XX. 

with  the  reflection,  somewhat  more 
charitable  than  that  of  Don  Quixote’s 
curate,  that  “ he  had  felt  little  interest  in 
investigating  these  fables,  yet  was  willing 
to  admit  with  others,  that  their  reading 
was  not  wholly  useless.” 

Moratin  has  collected  an  appalling 
catalogue  of  part  of  the  books  of  chivalry 
published  in  Spain  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  and  the  following  century.  The 
first  on  the  list  is  the  Car  cel  de  Amor , 
por  Diego  Hernandez  de  San  Pedro,  en 
Burgos,  ano  de  3496.  Obras,  tom.  i.  pp. 
93-98. 

6 Cervantes,  Don  Quixote,  tom.  i.  part. 
1,  cap.  6. 

The  curate’s  wrath  is  very  emphatical- 
ly expressed.  “ Pues  vayan  todos  al 
corral,  dixo  el  Cura,  que  a trueco  de 
quemar  a la  reyna  Pintiquiniestra,  y al 
pastor  Darinel  y a sus  eglogas,  y a las 
endiabladas  y revueltas  razones  de  su 
autor,  quemara  con  ellos  al  padre  que  me 
engendro  si  andubiera  en  figura  de  Ca- 
ballero andante.”  The  author  of  the 
“ Dialogo  de  las  Lenguas  ” chimes  in 
with  the  same  tone  of  criticism  “ Los 
quales,”  he  says,  speaking  of  books  of 
chivalry,  “ de  mas  de  ser  mentirossissi- 
mos,  son  tal  mal  compuestos,  assi  por 
dezir  las  mentiras  tan  desvergongadas, 
como  por  tener  el  estilo  desbaragado,  que 
no  ay  buen  estomago  que  lo  puedaleer.” 
Apud  Mayans  y Siscar,  Orlgenes,  tom. 
ii.  p.  158. 

7 The  labors  of  Bowles,  Rios,  Arrieta, 
Pellicer,  and  Navarrete,  would  seem  to 
have  left  little  to  desire  in  regard  to  the 
illustration  of  Cervantes,  But  the  com- 
mentaries of  Clemencin,  published  since 
this  chapter  was  written,  in  1833,  show 
how  much  yet  remained  to  be  supplied. 
They  afford  the  most  copious  illustra- 
tions, both  literary  and  historical  of  his 
author,  and  exhibit  that  nice  taste  in  ver- 
bal criticism  which  is  not  always  joined 
with  such  extensive  erudition.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  premature  death  of  Clemenci  1 
has  left  the  work  unfinished:  but  the 
fragment  completed,  which  reaches  to 
the  close  of  the  First  Part,  is  of  suffi- 
cient value  permanentlv  to  associate  the 
name  of  its  author  with  that  of  the 
greatest  genius  of  his  country. 

b The  fabliaux  cannot  fairly  be  consid- 
ered as  an  exception  to  this.  These 
graceful  little  performances,  the  work  of 
professed  bards,  who  had  nothing  further 
in  view  than  the  amusement  of  a listless 
audience,  have  little  claim  to  be  consid- 


CH.  XX.] 


PART  I, — CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


4S(J 


ered  as  the  expression  of  national  feeling 
or  sentiment.  The  poetry  of  the  south 
of  France,  more  impassioned  and  lyrical 
in  its  character,  wears  the  stamp,  not 
merely  of  patrician  elegance,  but  refined 
artifice,  which  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  natural  flow  of  popular  min- 
strelsy. 

9 How  far  the  achievements  claimed 
for  the  Campeador  are  strictly  true, 
is  little  to  the  purpose.  It  is  enough  that 
they  were  received  as  true,  throughout 
the  Peninsula,  as  far  back  as  the  twelfth, 
or,  at  latest,  the  thirteenth  century. 

10  One  exception,  among  others,  readily 
occurs  in  the  pathetic  old  ballad  of  the 
Conde  Alarcos,  whose  woful  catastrophe, 
with  the  unresisting  suffering  of  the 
countess,  suggests  many  points  of  coin- 
cidence with  the  English  minstrelsy. 
The  English  reader  will  find  a version  of 
it  in  the  “ Ancient  Poetry  and  Romances 
of  Spain  11  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Bowring, 
to  whom  the  literary  world  is  so  largely 
indebted  for  an  acquaintance  with  the 
popular  minstrelsy  of  Europe. 

11 1 have  already  noticed  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  the  romances  to  authentic  his- 
tory, Part.  I.  Chap.  8,  Note  30.  My  con- 
clusions there  have  been  confirmed  by 
Mi.  Irving,  (whose  researches  have  led 
him  in  a similar  direction,)  in  his  “Al- 
hambra,” published  nearly  a year  after 
the  above  note  was  written. 

The  great  source  of  the  popular  mis- 
conceptions respecting  the  domestic  his- 
tory of  Granada,  is  Gines  Perez  de  Hyta, 
whose  work,  under  the  title  of  “ Iiistoria 
de  los  Vandos  de  los  Zegries  y Abencer- 
rages,  Cavalier  os  Moros  de  Granada,  y 
las  Guerras  Civiles  que  huvo  en  ella,” 
was  published  at  Alcald  in  1004.  This  ro- 
mance. written  in  prose,  embodied  many 
of  the  old  Moorish  ballads  in  it,  whose 
singular  oeauty,  combined  with  the  ro 
mantle  and  picturesque  character  of  the 
work  itself,  soon  made  it  extremely  pop- 
ular. until  at  length  it  seems  to  have  ac- 
quired a decree  of  the  historical  credit 
claimed  for  it  by  its  author  as  a transla- 
tion from  an  Arabian  chronicle : a credit 
which  has  stood  it  in  good  stead  with  the 
tribe  of  travel-mongers  and  raconteurs , 
persons  a 1 wavs  of  easy  faith,  who  have 
propagated  its  fables  far  and  wide. 
Their  credulity,  however,  may  be  par- 
doned in  what  was  imposed  on  the  per- 
spicacity of  so  cautious  an  historian  as 
Miiller.  Allgemeine  Geschichte;  (1817,) 
band  ii.  p.  504. 


Thus,  in  one  of  their  romances , we 
have  a Moorish  lady  “ shedding  drops  of 
liquid  silver,  and  scattering  her  hair  of 
Arabian  gold  ” over  the  corpse  of  her 
murdered  husband  1 

“ Sobre  el  cuerpo  de  Albencayde 
Destila  liquida  plata, 

Y convertida  en  cabellos 
Esparceel  oro  de  Arabia.” 

Can  any  thing  be  more  oriental  than  this 
imagery?  In  another  we  have  “ an  hour 
of  years  of  impatient  hopes  a passion- 
ate sally,  that  can  scarcely  be  outmatched 
by  Scriblerus.  This  taint  of  exaggeration, 
however,  so  far  from  being  peculiar  to 
the  popular  minstrelsy,  has  found  its  way, 
probably  through  this  channel  in  part, 
into  most  of  the  poetry  of  the  Peninsula. 

13  The  redondilla  may  be  considered 
as  the  basis  of  Spanish  versification.  It 
is  of  great  antiquity,  and  compositions  in 
it  are  still  extant,  as  old  as  the  time  of  the 
infante  Don  Manuel,  at  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  (See  Cancionero 
General,  fol.  207.)  Th ^redondilla  admits 
of  great  variety  ; but  in  the  romances  it 
is  most  frequently  found  to  consist  of 
eight  syllables,  the  last  foot,  and  some 
or  all  of  the  preceding, 'as  the  case  may 
be,  being  trochees.  (Rengifo,  Arte  Po- 
ctica  Espanola,  (Barcelona,  1727,)  cap.  9, 
44.)  Critics  have  derived  this  delightful 
measure  from  various  sources.  Sarmi- 
ento  traces  it  to  the  hexameter  of  the  an- 
cient Romans,  which  may  be  bisected  in- 
to something  analogous  to  the  redondil- 
las.  (Memorias,  pp.  168-171.)  Bouterwek 
thinks  it  may  have  been  suggested  by  the 
songs  of  the  Roman  soldiery.  (Geschi- 
chce  der  Poesie  und  Beredsamkeit,  band 
iii.  Einleitung,  p.  20.)— Velazquez  bor- 
rows it  from  the  rhyming  hexameters 
of  the  Spanish  Latin  poets,  of  which  he 
gives  specimens  of  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  (Poesia  Castellana, 
pp.  77,  78.)  Later  critics  refer  its  deriva- 
tion to  the  Arabic.  Conde  has  given  a 
translation  of  certain  Spanish- Arabian 
poems,  in  the  measure  of  the  original, 
from  which  it  is  evident,  that  the  hemi- 
stich of  an  Arabian  verse  corresponds 
perfectly  with  the  redondilla.  (See  his 
Dominacion  de  los  Arabes.  passim.)  The 
same  author,  in  a treatise,  which  he 
never  published,  on  the  “poesia  orient- 
al,” shows  more  precisely  the  intimate 
affinity  subsisting  between  the  metrical 
form  of  the  Arabian  and  the  old  Castilian 
verse.  The  reader  will  find  an  analysis 


490 


PART  I.— CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


[CH.  XX. 


of  his  manuscript  in  Part.  I.  Chap.  8, 
Note  49,  of  this  History. 

This  theory  is  rendered  the  more  plau- 
sible, by  the  influence  which  the  Arabic 
has  exercised  on  Castilian  versification 
in  other  respects,  as  in  the  prolonged 
repetition  of  the  rhyme,  for  example, 
which  is  wholly  borrowed  from  the  Span- 
ish Arabs;  whose  superior  cultivation 
naturally  affected  the  unformed  litera- 
ture of  their  neighbours,  and  through  no 
channel  more  obviously  than  its  popular 
minstrelsy. 

14  The  asonante  is  a rhyme  made  by 
uniformity  of  the  vowels,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  consonants;  the  regular 
rhyme,  which  obtains  in  other  European 
literatures,  is  distinguished  in  Spain  by 
the  term  consonante.  Thus  the  four 
following  words,  taken  at  random  from  a 
Spanish  ballad,  are  consecutive  asohan 
tes;  regozijo , pellico . luzido , amarillo. 
In  this  example,  the  two  last  syllables 
have  the  assonance:  although  this  is  not 
invariable,  it  sometimes  falling  on  the 
antepenultima  and  the  final  syllable.  (See 
Rengifo.  Arte  Poetica  Espanola,  pp.  214. 
215,  218.)  There  is  a wild,  artless  melody 
in  the  asonante , and  a graceful  move- 
ment coming  somewhere,  as  it  does,  be 
twixt  regular  rhyme  and  blank  verse, 
which  would  make  its  introduction  very 
desirable,  but  not  very  feasible,  in  our 
own  language.  An  attempt  of  the  kind 
has  been  made  by  a clever  writer,  in  the 
Retrospective  Review.  (Vol.  iv.  art.  2.) 
If  it  has  failed,  it  is  from  the  impedi 
ments  presented  by  the  language,  which 
has  not  nearly  the  same  amount  of  vowel 
terminations,  nor  of  simple  uniform 
vowel  sounds,  as  the  Spanish ; the  double 
termination,  however  full  of  grace  and 
beauty  in  the  Castilian,  assumes,  perhaps 
from  the  effect  of  association,  rather  a 
doggrel  air  in  the  English. 

15  This  may  be  still  further  inferred 
from  the  tenor  of  a humorous,  satirical 
old  romance , in  which  the  writer  im- 
plores the  justice  of  Apollo  on  the  heads 
of  the  swarm  of  traitor  poets,  who  have 
deserted  the  ancient  themes  of  song,  the 
Cids,  the  Laras,  the  Gonzalez,  to  cele- 
brate the  Ganzuls  and  Abderrahmans 
and  the  fantastical  fables  of  the  Moors. 

“ Tanta  Zayda  y Adalifa, 
tanta  Draguta  y Daraxa, 
tanto  Azarque  y tanto  Adulce, 
tan  to  Gazul,  y Abenamar, 
tanto  alquizer  y mariota, 
tanto  almayzar,  y almalafa. 


tantas  emprisas  y plumas, 
tantas  cifras  y medallas, 
tanta  roperia  Mora. 

Y en  vanderillas  y adargas, 
tanto  mote,  y tantas  motas 
muera  yo  sino  me  cansan.” 

* * * * * 

“ Los  Alfonsos,  los  Henricos, 
los  Sanchos,  y los  de  Lara, 
que  es  dellos,  y que  es  del  Cid? 
tanto  olvido  en  glorias  tantas? 
ninguna  pluma  las  buela, 
ninguna  Musa  las  canta? 

Justicia,  Apollo,  justicia, 
vengadores  rayos  lan<;a 
contra  Poetas  Moriscos.” 

Dr.  Johnson's  opinions  are  well  known, 
in  regard  to  this  department  of  English 
literature,  which,  by  his  ridiculous  paro 
dies,  he  succeeded  for  a time  in  throwing 
into  the  shade,  or,  in  the  language  of  his 
admiring  biographer,  made  “ perfectly 
contemptible.” 

Petrarch,  with  like  pedantry,  rested 
his  hopes  of  fame  on  his  Latin  epic,  and 
gave  away  his  lyrics,  as  alms  to  ballad- 
singers.  Posterity,  deciding  on  surer 
principles  of  taste,  has  reversed  both 
these  decisions. 

16  “ Algunos  quieren  que  sean  la  car- 
tilla  de  los  Poetas;  yo  no  lo  siento  assi; 
antes  bien  los  hallo  capaces,  no  solo  de 
exprimir  y declarar  qualquier  concepto 
con  facil  dulzura.  pero  de  prosequir  toda 
grave  accion  de  numeroso  Poema.  Y 
soy  tan  de  veras  Espanol.  que  por  ser  en 
nuestro  idioma  natural  este  genero.  no 
me  puedo  persuadir  que  no  sea  digno  de 
toda  estimacion.”  (Coleccion  de  Obras 
Sueltas,  (Madrid,  1776-9,)  tom.  iv.  p.  176, 
Prologo.)  In  another  place,  he  finely 
styles  them  ” Iliads  without  a Homer.” 

17  See,  among  others,  the  encomiastic 
and  animated  criticism  of  Fernandez  and 
Quintana.  Fernandez,  Poesias  Escogi- 
das,  de  Nuestros  Cancioneros  y Roman- 
ceros  Antiguos,  (Madrid,  1796,1  tom.  xvi., 
Prologo.  —Quintana,  Poesias  Selectas  Cas- 
tellanas.  Introd.  art.  4. 

18  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova,  tom. 
ii.  p.  10.— The  Spanish  translators  of 
Bouterwek,  have  noticed  the  principal 
“ collections  and  earliest  editions  ” of  the 
Romances.  This  original  edition  of  Se- 
pulveda has  escaped  their  notice.  See 
Literatura  Espanola,  pp.  217,  218. 

19  See  Grimm,  Depping,  Herder,  &c. 
This  last  poet  has  embraced  a selection 
of  the  Cid  ballads,  chronologically  ar- 
ranged, and  translated  with  eminent  sim- 
plicity and  spirit,  if  not  with  the  scrupu- 
lous fidelity  usually  aimed  at  by  the  Ger- 


CH.  XX.J 


PART  I.— CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


491 


mans.  See  his  Sammtliche  Werke,  (Wien, 
1813,)  band  iii. 

20  Sarmiento,  Memorias,  pp.  242,  243.— 
Moratin  considers  that  none  have  come 
down  to  us,  in  their  original  costume,  of 
an  earlier  date  than  John  II. ’s  reign,  the 
first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  (Obras, 
tom.  i.  p.  84.)  The  Spanish  translators 
of  Bouterwek  transcribe  a romance , re- 
lating to  the  Cid,  from  the  fathers  Ber- 
ganza and  Merino,  purporting  to  exhibit 
the  primitive,  uncorrupted  diction  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  Native  critics  are  of 
course  the  only  ones  competent  to  ques- 
tions of  this  sort:  but,  to  the  less  experi- 
enced eye  of  a foreigner,  the  style  of  this 
ballad  would  seem  to  resemble  much  less 
that  genuine  specimen  of  the  versifica- 
tion of  the  preceding  age,  the  poem  of 
the  Cid,  than  the  compositions  of  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 

21  The  principle  cf  philosophical  ar- 
rangement, if  it  may  so  be  called,  is  pur- 
sued still  further  in  the  latest  Spanish 
publications  of  the  romances , where  the 
Moorish  minstrelsy  is  embodied  in  a sep- 
arate volume,  and  distributed  with  refer- 
ence to  its  topics.  This  system  is  the 
more  practicable  with  this  class  of  bal- 
lads, since  it  far  exceeds  in  number  any 
other.  See  Duran,  Romancero  de  Ro- 
mances Moriscos. 

The  Romancero  I have  used  is  the  an- 
cient edition  of  Medina  del  Campo,  1G02. 
It  is  divided  into  nine  parts,  though  it  is 
not  easy  to  see  on  what  principle,  since 
the  productions  of  most  opposite  date 
and  tenor  are  brought  into  juxtaposition. 
The  collection  contains  nearly  a thousand 
ballads,  which,  however,  fall  far  short  of 
the  entire  number  preserved,  as  may 
easily  be  seen  by  reference  to  other  com- 
pilations. When  to  this  is  added  the 
consideration  of  the  large  number  which 
insensibly  glided  into  oblivion  without 
ever  coming  to  the  press,  one  may  form 
a notion  of  the  immense  mass  of  these 
humble  lyrics,  which  floated  among  the 
common  people  of  Spain;  and  we  shall 
be  the  less  disposed  to  wonder  at  the 
proud  and  chivalrous  bearing  that  marks 
even  the  peasantry  of  a nation,  which 
seems  to  breathe  the  very  air  of  romantic 
song. 

22  The  title  of  this  work  was  “ Coplas 
de  Vita  Christi,  de  la  Cena  con  la  Pasion, 
y de  la  Veronica  con  la  Resurreccion  de 
nuestro  Redemtor.  E las  siete  Angus- 
tias  e siete  Gozos  de  nuestra  Senora, 
con  otras  obras  mucho  provechosas.”  It 


concludes  with  the  following  notice,  “ Fue 
la  presente  obra  emprenta  da  en  la  insigne 
Ciudad  de  Zaragoza  de  Aragon  por  in- 
dustrial e expensas  de  Paulo  Hurus  de 
Constancia  aleman.  A 27  dias  de  Novi- 
embre,  1492.”  (Mendez,  Typographia 
Espahola,  pp.  134,  13G.)  It  appears  there 
were  two  or  three  other  cancioneros 
compiled,  non  j of  which,  however,  were 
admitted  to  the  honors  of  the  press.  (Bou- 
terwek, Literatura  Espanola,  nota.)  The 
learned  Castro,  some  fifty  years  since, 
published  an  analysis  with  copious  ex- 
tracts from  one  of  these  made  by  Baena, 
the  Jewish  physician  of  John  II.,  a copy 
of  which  existed  in  the  royal  library  of 
the  Escurial.  Bibliotheca  Espanola,  tom. 
i.  p.  265  et  seq. 

23  Cancionero  General,  passim. — Mora- 
tin has  given  a list  of  the  men  of  rank 
who  contributed  to  this  miscellany;  it 
contains  the  names  of  the  highest  no- 
bility of  Spain.  (Orig.  del  Teatro  Espa- 
nol,  Obras,  tom.  i.  pp.  85,  86.)  Castillo's 
Cancionero  passed  through  several  edi- 
tions, the  latest  of  which  appeared  in 
1573,  See  a catalogue,  not  entirely  com- 
plete, of  the  different  Spanish  Cancio- 
neros in  Bouterwek,  Literatura  Espanola, 
trad.,  p.  217. 

24  Cancionero  General,  pp.  83-89.— Ovie- 
do, Quincuagenas,  MS. 

25  Cancionero  General,  pp.  158-161.— 
Some  meagre  information  of  this  person 
is  given  by  Nic.  Antonio,  whose  bio- 
graphical notices  may  be  often  charged 
with  deficiency  in  chronological  data ; a 
circumstance  perhaps  unavoidable  from 
the  obscurity  of  their  subjects.  Biblio- 
theca Vetus,  tom.  ii.  lib.  10,  cap.  6. 

26  There  are  probably  more  direct  puns 
in  Petrarch's  lyrics  alone,  than  in  all  the 
Cancionero  General.  There  is  another 
kind  of  niaiserie,  however,  to  which  the 
Spanish  poets  were  much  addicted,  being 
the  transposition  of  the  word  in  every 
variety  of  sense  and  combination;  as, 
for  example, 

u Acordad  vuestros  olvidos 
Y olvida  vuestros  acuerdos 
Porque  tales  desacuerdos 
Acuerden  vuestros  sentidos,”  &c. 

Cancionero  General,  fol.  226. 

It  was  such  subtilties  as  these,  entri- 
cados  razones , as  Cervantes  calls  them, 
that  addled  the  brains  of  poor  Don  Quix- 
ote. Tom.  i.  cap.  1. 

I 27  Velasquez,  Poesia  Castellana,  p.  122. 
' —More  than  half  a century  later,  the 


492  PART  I. — CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


learned  Ambrosio  Morales  complained 
of  the  barrenness  of  the  Castilian,  which 
he  imputed  to  the  too  exclusive  adoption 
of  the  Latin  upon  all  subjects  of  dignity 
and  importance.  Obras,  tom.  xiv,  pp. 
147,  143. 

28  L.  Marineo,  speaking  of  this  accom 
plished  nobleman,  styles  him  “ virum 
satis  illustrem.—  Eura  enim  poetam  et 
philosophum  natura  forma  vit  ac  peperit.  ” 
He  unfortunately  fell  in  a skirmish,  five 
years  after  his  fathers  death,  in  1479. 
Mariana,  Hist,  de  Espana,  tom.  ii.  p.  £31. 

29  An  elaborate  character  of  this  Quix- 
otic old  cavalier  may  be  found  in  Pul- 
gar.  Claros  Varones,  tit.  13. 

30  “ Don  Jorge  Manrique,”  says  Lope 
de  Vega,  “ cuy&s  coplas  Castellanas  ad- 
miren  los  ingenios  estrangeros  y merecen 
estar  escritas  con  letras  de  oro.”  Obras 
Sueltas,  tom.  xii.  Prologo. 

31  Coplas  de  Don  Jorge  Manrique,  ed 
Madrid,  1779.— Dillogo  de  las  Lenguas, 
apud  Mayans  y Siscar,  Origenes.  tom.  ii. 
p.  149. — Manrique’s  Coplas  have  also 
been  the  subject  of  a separate  publica- 
tion in  the  United  States.  Professor 
Longfellow’s  version,  accompanying  it,  is 
well  calculated  to  give  the  English  reader 
a correct  notion  of  the  Castilian  bard, 
and,  of  course,  a very  exaggerated  one 
of  the  literary  culture  of  the  age. 

32  After  proscribing  certain  profane 
mummeries,  the  law  confines  the  clergy 
to  the  representation  of  such  subjects  as 
“the  birth  of  our  Saviour,  in  which  is 
shown  how  the  angels  appeared,  announc- 
ing his  nativity;  also  his  advent,  and 
the  coming  of  the  three  Magi  kings  to 
worship  him ; and  his  resurrection,  show- 
ing his  crucifixion  and  ascension  on  the 
third  day;  and  other  such  things  leading 
men  to  do  well  and  live  constant  in  the 
faith.”  (Siete  Partidas,  tit.  6,  ley  31.) 
It  is  worth  noting,  that  similar  abuses 
continued  common  among  the  ecclesias- 
tics, down  to  Isabella’s  reign,  as  may  be 
inferred  from  a decree,  very  similar  to 
the  law  of  the  Partidas  above  cited,  pub- 
lished by  the  council  of  Aranda,  in  1473. 
(Apud  Moratin,  Obras,  tom.  i.  p.  87.) 
Moratin  considers  it  certain,  that  the  rep- 
resentation of  the  mysteries  existed  in 
Spain,  as  far  back  as  the  eleventh  cent- 
ury. The  principal  grounds  for  this 
con  jecture  appear  to  be,  the  fact  that 
such  notorious  abuses  had  crept  into 
practice  by  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  as  to  require  the  intervention  of 
the  law.  (Ibid.  pp.  11.  13.)  The  circum- 


[CH.  XX. 

stance  would  seem  compatible  with  a 
much  more  recent  origin. 

33  Cervantes,  Comedias  y Entremeses, 
(Madrid,  1749,)  tom.  i.  prologo  de  Nasar- 
re. —Velazquez,  Poesia  Casteliana,  p.  86.— 
The  fifth  volume  of  the  Memoirs  of  the 
Spanish  Royal  Academy  of  History,  con- 
tains a dissertation  on  the  “ national  di- 
versions,” by  Don  Gaspar  Melchor  de 
Jovellanos.  replete  with  curious  erudi- 
tion, and  exhibiting  the  discriminating 
taste  to  have  been  expected  from  its  ac- 
complished author.  Among  these  anti- 
quarian researches,  the  writer  has  in- 
cluded a brief  view  of  the  first  theatrical 
attempts  in  Spain.  See  Mem.  de  la  Acad, 
de  Hist.,  tom.  v.  Mem.  G. 

34  Moratin,  Obras,  tom.  i.  p.  115.— Na- 
sarre  (Cervantes,  Comedias,  prol.),  Jovel- 
lanos (Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  v, 
Memoi\  6.),  Pellicer  (Origen  y Progreso 
de  la  Comedia,  (18W,)  tom.  i.  p.  12.),  and 
others,  refer  the  authorship  of  this  little 
piece.'  without  hesitation,  to  Juan  de  la 
Encina.  although  the  year  of  its  repre- 
sentation corresponds  precisely  with 
that  of  his  birth.  The  prevalence  of  so 
gross  a blunder  among  the  Spanish 
scholars,  shows  how  little  the  antiqui- 
ties of  their  thc-tre  were  studied  before 
the  time  of  Moratin. 

36  This  little  piece  has  been  published 
at  length  by  Moratin,*  in  the  first  volume 
of  his  works.  (See  Origenes  del  Teatro 
Espanol,  Obras.  tom.  i.  pp.  303—314.) 

The  celebrated  marquis  of  Santillana’s 
poetical  dialogue,  “Comedieta  da  Pon- 
za,”  has  no  pretensions  to  rank  as  a dra- 
matic composition,  notwithstanding  its 
title,  which  is  indeed  as  little  significant 
of  its  real  character,  as  the  term  “ Corn- 
media”  is  of  Dante’s  epic.  It  is  a dis- 
course on  the  vicissitudes  of  human  life, 
suggested  by  a sea-fight  near  Ponza,  in 
1435.  It  is  conducted  without  any  at- 
tempt at  dramatic  action  or  character, 
or,  indeed,  dramatic  development  of  any 
sort.  The  same  remarks  may  be  made 
of  the  political  satire,  “ Mingo  Revulgo,” 
which  appeared  in  Henry  IV. ’s  reign. 
Dialogue  was  selected  by  these  authors 
as  a more  popular  and  spirited  medium 
than  direct  narrative  for  conveying  their 
sentiments.  The  “ Comedieta  da  Pon- 
za” has  never  appeared  in  print;  the 
copy  which  I have  used  is  a transcript 
from  the  one  in  the  royal  library  at  Ma- 
drid, an^  belongs  to  Mr.  George  Ticknor. 

36  Tragicomedia  de  Calisto  y Melibea, 
(Alcald,  1586,)  Introd.— Nothing  is  posi- 


CH.  XX.] 


PART  I.— CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


493 


tively  ascertained  respecting  the  author- 
ship of  the  first  act  of  the  Celestina. 
Some  impute  it  to  J uan  de  Mena ; others 
with  more  probability  to  Rodrigo  Cota  el 
Tio,  of  Toledo,  a person  who,  although 
literally  nothing  is  known  of  him,  has  in 
some  way  or  other  obtained  the  credit  of 
the  authorship  of  some  of  the  most  pop- 
ular effusions  of  the  fifteenth  century; 
such,  for  example,  as  the  Dialogue 
above  cited  of  “ Love  and  an  Old  Man,” 
the  Coplas  of  “ Mingo  Re vulgo,”  and  this 
first  act  of  the  “ Celestina.”  The  princi- 
pal foundation  of  these  imputations 
would  appear  to  be  the  bare  assertion  of 
an  editor  of  the  “ Dialogue  between  Love 
and  an  Old  Man,”  which  appeared  at 
Medina  del  Campo,  in  1569,  nearly  a 
century,  probably,  after  Cota’s  death; 
another  example  of  the  obscurity  which 
involves  the  history  of  the  early  Spanish 
drama.  Many  of  the  Castilian  critics  de- 
tect a flavor  of  antiquity  in  the  first  act 
which  should  carry  back  its  composition 
as  far  as  John  II.  ’s  reign.  Moratin  does 
not  discern  this,  however,  and  is  inclined 
to  refer  its  production  to  a date  not  much 
more  distant,  if  any,  than  Isabella’s  time. 
To  the  unpractised  eye  of  a foreigner,  as 
far  as  style  is  concerned,  the  whole  work 
might  well  seem  the  production  of  the 
same  period.  Moratin,  Obras,  tom.  i.  pp. 
88,  115,  116.— Dialogo  de  las  Lenguas, 
apuc.  Mayans  y Siscar,  Origenes,  pp.  165— 
167.— Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova 
tom.  ii.  p.  263. 

37  Such  is  the  high  encomium  of  the 
Abate  Andres,  (Letteratura,  tom.  v. 
part.  2.  lib.  1.)— Cervantes  does  not  hesi- 
tate to  call  it  “ libro  divino  ” ; and  the 
acute  author  of  the  “ Diarlogo  de  las  Len 
guas”  concludes  a criticism  upon  it 
with  the  remark,  that  “ there  is  no  book 
in  the  Castilian  which  surpasses  it  in 
the  propriety  and  elegance  of  its  dic- 
tion.” (Don  Quixote,  ed.  de  Pellicer,  tom. 
i.  p.  239.— Mayans  y Siscar.  tom.  ii.  p 
167.) 

Its  merits  indeed  seem  in  some  degree 
to  have  disarmed  even  the  severity  of 
foreign  critics ; and  Signorelli,  after 
standing  up  stoutly  in  defence  of  the 
precedence  of  the  “ Orfeo  ” as  a dra- 
matic composition,  admits  the  “Celes- 
tina” to  be  a “work,  rich  in  various 
beauties,  and  meriting  undoubted  ap- 
plause. In  fact,”  he  continues,  “ the  vi- 
vacity of  the  description  of  character, 
and  faithful  portraiture  of  manners, 
have  made  it  immortal.”  Storia  Critica 


de’  Teatri  Antichi  e Moderni,  (Napoli, 
1813,)  tom.  vi.  pp.  146,  147. 

3y  Bouterwek,  Literatura  Espafiola, 
notas  de  traductores,  p.  234.— Andres, 
Letteratura,  tom.  v.  pp.  170,  171.— Lam- 
pillas,  Letteratura  Spagnuola,  tom.  vi. 
pp.  57-59. 

39  Rojas,  Viage  Entretenido,  <4614,)  fol. 
46.— Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova,  tcm. 
i.  p.  684.— Moratin,  Obras,  tom.  i.  pp.  126, 
127.— Pellicer,  Origen  de  la  Comedia,  tom. 
i.  pp.  11,  12. 

40  They  were  published  under  the  title, 
“ Cancionero  de  todas  las  Obras  de  Juan 
de  la  Encina  con  otras  afiadidas.”  (Men- 
dez, Typographia  Espafiola,  p.  247.) 
Subsequent  impressions  of  his  works, 
more  or  less  complete,  appeared  at  Sala- 
manca in  1509,  and  at  Saragossa  in  1512 
and  1516.— Moratin,  Obras,  tom.  i.  p.  127, 
nota. 

41  The  comedian  Rojas,  who  flourished 
in  the  beginning  of  the  following  century, 
and  whose  “ Viage  Entretenido  ” is  so 
essential  to  the  knowledge  of  the  early 
histrionic  art  in  Spain,  identifies  the  ap- 
pearance of  Encina's  Eclogues  with  the 
dawn  of  the  Castilian  drama.  His  verses 
may  be  worth  quoting. 

“ Que  es  en  nuestra  madre  Espana, 
porque  en  la  dichosa  era, 
ue  aquellos  gloriosos  Reyes 
ignos  de  memcria  eterna 
Don  Fernando  e Ysabel 
(que  ya  con  los  santos  reynan) 
de  echar  de  Espana  acabavan 
todos  los  Moriscos,  que  eran 
Deaquel  Reyno  de  Granada, 
y entonces  se  dava  en  ella 
principio  a la  Inquisicion, 
se  le  dio  a nuestra  comedia. 

Juan  de  la  Encina  el  primero, 
aquel  insigne  poeta, 
que  tanto  bien  empezo 
de  quien  tenemos  tres  eglogas 
Que  el  mismo  represento 
al  Almirante  y Duquessa 
de  Castilla,  y de  Infantado 
que  estas  fueron  las  primeras 
Y para  mas  honra  suya, 
y de  la  comedia  nuestra, 
en  los  dias  que  Colon 
descubrio  la  gran  riqueza 
De  Indias  y nuevo  mundo, 
y el  gran  Capitan  empieza 
a sugetar  aquel  Reyno 
de  Napoles,  y su  tierra. 

A descubrirse  empozo 
el  uso  de  la  comedia 
porque  todos  se  animassen 
a emprender  cosas  tan  buenas.” 

fol.  46,  47. 

42  Signorelli,  correcting  what  he  de- 
I nominates  the  “ romance  ” of  Lampillas, 


494 


PART  I. — CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


[CH.  XX. 


considers  Encina  to  have  composed  only 
one  pastoral  drama,  and  that,  on  occa- 
sion of  Ferdinand’s  entrance  into  Cas- 
tile. The  critic  should  have  been  more 
charitable,  as  he  has  made  two  blunders 
himself  in  correcting  one.  Storia  Cri- 
tica  de’  Teatri,  tom.  iv.  pp.  192,  193. 

43  Andres,  confounding  Torres  de 
. Naharro  the  poet,  with  Naharro  the 

comedian,  who  flourished  about  half 
a century  later,  is  led  into  a ludicrous 
train  of  errors  in  controverting  Cervan- 
tes, whose  criticism  on  the  actor  is  per- 
petually misapplied  by  Andres  to  the 
poet.  Velasquez  seems  to  have  con- 
founded them  in  like  manner.  Another 
evidence  of  the  extremely  superficial  ac- 
quaintance of  the  Spanish  critics  with 
their  early  drama.  Comp.  Cervantes, 
Comedias  y Entremeses,  tom.  i.  prdlogo. 
— Andres.  Letteratura,  tom.  v.  p.  179.— 
Velazquez,  Poesia  Castellana,  p.  88. 

44  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova,  tom. 
i.  p.  202.— Cervantes,  Comedias,  tom.  l. 
prol.  de  Nasarre.— Pellicer,  Origen  de  la 
Comedia,  tom.  ii.  p.  17.— Moratin,  Obras, 
tom.  i.  p.  48. 

45  Bartolome  Torres  de  Naharro,  Pro- 
paladia,  (Madrid,  1573.)— The  deficiency 
of  the  earlier  Spanish  books,  of  which 
Bouterwek  repeatedly  complains,  has 
led  him  into  an  error  respecting  the 
“ Propaladia,”  which  he  had  never  seen. 
He  states  that  Naharro  was  the  first  to 
distribute  the  play  into  three  jornadas 
or  acts,  and  takes  Cervantes  roundly  to 
task  for  assuming  the  original  merit  of 
this  distribution  to  himself.  In  fact,  Na- 
harro did  introduce  the  division  into  five 
jornadas,  and  Cervantes  assumes  only 
the  credit  of  having  been  the  first  to  re- 
duce them  to  three.  Comp.  Bouterwek, 
Geschichte  der  Poesie  und  Beredsamkeit, 
band  iii.  p.  285,— and  Cervantes,  Come- 
dias, tom.  i.  prol. 

46  In  the  argrment  to  the  “ Seraphina,” 
he  thus  prepares  the  audience  for  this 
colloquial  olla  podrida. 

“ Mas  haveis  de  estar  alerta 
por  sentir  los  personages 
que  hablan  quatro  lenguages. 
hasta  aeaba-r  su  rehyerta 
no  salen  de  cuenta  cierta 
por  Latin  a Italiano 
Castellano  y Valenciano 
que  ninguno  desconcierta.” 

Propaladia,  p.  50. 

47  The  following  is  an  example  of  the 
precious  reasoning  with  which  Floristan. 
in  the  play  above  quoted,  reconciles  his 


conscience  to  the  murder  of  his  wife  Or- 
fea,  in  order  to  gratify  the  jealousy  of  his 
mistress  Seraphina.  Floristan  is  ad- 
dressing himself  to  a priest. 

Y por  mas  dano  escusar 
no  lo  quiero  hora  hazer, 
sino  que  es  menester. 
ue  yo  mate  luego  a Orfea 
o Serafina  lo  vea 
porque  lo  pueda  creer. 

Que  yo  bien  me  mataria, 
pues  toda  razon  me  inclina; 
pero  se  de  Serafina 
que  se  desesperaria. 
y Orfea,  pues  que  haria? 
quando  mi  muerte  supiesse: 
que  creo  que  no  pudiesse 
sostener  la  vida  un  dia. 

Pues  hablando  aca  entra  nos 
a Orfea  cabe  la  suerte ; 
porque  con  su  sola  muerte 
se  escusaran  otras  dos: 
de  modo  que  padre  vos 
si  llamar  me  la  quereys, 
a mi  merced  me  hareys 
y tambien  servicio  a Dios. 
***** 
porque  si  yo  la  matare 
monra  christianainente; 
yo  morire  penitente, 
quando  mi  suerte  llegare.” 

Propaladia,  fol.  68. 

48  Signorelli  waxes  exceedingly  wroth 
with  Don  Bias  Nasarre  for  the  assertion, 
that  Naharro  first  taught  the  Italians  to 
write  comedy,  taxing  him  with  down- 
right mendacity;  and  be  stoutly  denies 
the  probability  of  Naharro's  comedies 
ever  having  been  performed  on  the  Ital- 
ian boards.  The  critic  seems  to  be  in 
the  right,  as  far  as  regards  the  influence 
of  the  Spanish  dramatist;  but  he  might 
have  been  spared  all  doubts  respecting 
their  representation  in  the  country,  had 
he  consulted  the  prologue  of  Naharro 
himself,  where  he  asserts  the  fact  in  the 
most  explicit  manner.  Comp.  Propala- 
dia, prol.,  and  Signorelli,  Storia  Critica 
de’  Teatri,  tom.  vi.  pp.  171-179. -See  also 
Moratin,  Orfgenes,  Obras,  tom.  i.  pp.  149. 
150. 

49  Propaladia;  see  the  comedies  of 
“Trofea”  and  ” Tinelaria.” — Jovellanos, 
Memoria  sobre  las  Diversiones  Publican 
apud  Mem.  de  la  Acad,  de  Hist.,  tom.  v. 

50  Cervantes.  Comedias,  tom.  i.  prol. 

61  Pellicer,  Origen  de  la  Comedia,  tom. 
ii.  pp.  58-62.— See  also  American  Quar- 
terly Review,  no.  viii.  art.  3. 

52  Oliva,  Obras,  (Madrid.  1787.)— Vasco 
Diaz  Tanco,  a native  of  Kstremadura, 
who  flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  six- 


CH.  XX.] 


PART  I.— CASTILIAN  LITERATURE. 


495 


teenfch  century,  mentions  in  one  of  his 
works  three  tragedies  composed  by  him- 
self on  Scripture  subjects.  As  there  is 
no  evidence,  however,  of  their  having 
been  printed,  or  performed,  or  even  read 
in  manuscript  by  any  one,  they  hardly  de- 
serve to  be  included  in  the  catalogue  of 
dramatic  compositions.  (Moratin,  Obras, 
tom.  i.  pp.  150,  151.— Lampillas,  Lettera- 
tura  Spagnuola,  tom.  v.  dis.  1,  sec.  5.) 
This  patriotic  litterateur  endeavors  to 
establish  the  production  of  Oliva’s  trag- 
edies in  the  year  1515,  in  the  hope  of  an- 
tedating that  of  Trissinc's  “ Soplionisba," 
composed  a year  later,  and  thus  securing 
to  his  nation  the  palm  of  precedence,  in 
time  at  least,  though  it  should  be  only 
for  a few  months,  on  the  tragic  theatre 
of  modern  Europe.  Letteratura  Spag 
nuola,  ubi  supra. 

53  Nic.  Antonio,  Bibliotheca  Nova,  tom. 
i.  p.  886,— Oliva,  Obras,  pref.  de  Mo- 
rales. 

64  The  following  passage,  for  example, 
in  the  “Venganza  de  Agamemnon,"  im- 
itated from  the  FJectra  of  Sophocles, 
will  hardly  be  charged  on  tlie  Greek 
dramatist. 

“Habed,  yo  os  ruego,  de  mi  compas- 
sion, no  querais  atapar  con  vuestros  con- 
sejos  Jos  respiraderos  de  las  hornazas  de 


fuego,  que  dentro  me  atormentan."  See 
Oliva,  Obras,  p.  185. 

55  Compare  the  diction  of  these  trage- 
dies with  that  of  the  “Centon  Epistola- 
rio,”  for  instance,  esteemed  one  of  the 
best  literary  compositions  of  John  II.’.s 
reign,  and  see  the  advance  made,  not  only 
in  orthography,  but  in  the  verbal  arrange- 
ment generally,  and  the  whole  complex- 
ion of  the  style. 

6li  Notwithstanding  some  Spanish  crit- 
ics, as  Cueva.  for  example,  have  vindi- 
cated the  romantic  forms  of  the  drama 
on  scientific  principles,  it  is  apparent  that 
the  most  successful  writers  in  this  de- 
partment have  been  constrained  to  adopt 
them  by  public  opinion,  rather  than  their 
own,  which  would  have  suggested  a 
nearer  imitation  of  the  classical  models 
of  antiquity,  so  generally  followed  by  the 
Italians,  and  which  naturally  recom- 
mends itself  to  the  scholar.  See  the  ca- 
non's discourse  in  Cervantes,  Don  Quix- 
ote, ed.  de  Pellicer,  tom,  iii.  pp.  207-220, 
—and,  more  explicitly,  Lope  de  Vega, 
Obras  Sueltas,  tom.  iv.  p,  406. 

57  “Ya  en  Italia,  assi  entre  Damas, 
corno  entre  Caballeros,  se  tiene  por  gen- 
tileza  y galania,  saber  hablar  Castellano." 
I) iii  logo  de  las  Lenguas,  apud  Mayans  y 
Siscar,  Origenes,  tom.  ii.  p.  4. 


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